Dommination Industries
by avatarjk137
Summary: Sequel to Shadowboxing. When the Tallest decide drastic measures are necessary to remove that little thorn in their side, they hire a team of bounty hunters like no other.
1. Chapter 1

**avatar: ahh... back to my roots... the Invader Zim fandom. The bounty hunters in this fic are all my OCs. They all have special powers, giving them an edge in their line of work. This fic will be special... a plot twist in the middle, and an alternate ending! Oh yes. Since all the characters did my disclaimers last time, I'll cut 'em a break and do my own this time. I do not own Invader Zim. I do own the contents of this story, Kloof, Reapir, and Dommination Industries.**

**Chapter 1**

**Negotiations… Of Doom**

"We could bring out the Armada," Purple suggested.

"You know that would never work! We could… sic Tak on him. She IS an Invader now." Red counter-suggested.

"We tried that! It only keeps him busy! Besides, she was already _basically_ an Invader… we just didn't acknowledge it like we do now. This BRAINstorming is making me thirsty. DRONE! Get us some Dr. Armada. NOW!" At Tallest Purple's command, a drone obediently ran to get some soda for the Tallest.

"Good idea getting us that soda," Red laughed. "I _am_ getting thirsty… OOH! We could hire bounty hunters to kill him! We haven't tried that yet!"

"No good," Purple said as they grabbed the sodas the drone had provided. "Irken policy demands that if we contract bounty hunters and they fail, _we kill them._ Now only the really good bounty hunters who don't fail are left, and they don't take contracts with the Irken Empire anymore because of our policy and because we've _killed_ so many other bounty hunters." He chugged half his soda. "Unless…" Purple rubbed his chin. "Do you know about Dommination Industries?"

"Their back-story, you mean? Two Irken Defectives, whose DEFECTS had upsides, escaped execution at the hands of Tallest Miyuki, teamed up with a couple of other non-Irken guys who had beneficial mutations, and have, over the last 40 years, become the top bounty hunters in this galaxy. Did I miss anything?"

"No, that's about right," Purple said. "I think they'll help us with our little pest problem."

"What makes you think _they'll_ help _us_?! A previous Tallest ordered them killed!"

"Trust me. HEY! Technician! Contact this number!" Purple gave a set of coordinates to the Technician.

"Aaaand how do you have their private holoscreen number?"

"Easy. I used to be pen pals with their leader."

"Oh," Red said, pretending that explained everything.0

The main screen flipped on to show an image of an Irken spinning in his rotating chair. "Dommination Industries," the Irken spoke in a practiced tone as his chair stopped rotating, "100 percent success rate, 40 years experience, reasonable rates, who can I capture and/or slay for you?" He did a double take, and saluted. "The Almighty Tallest!" he exclaimed. "Why have you called us? You know our policy is-" He did a triple take. "PURPLE!! So that's why you broke off contact. It would look bad for an _Almighty Tallest_ to maintain communications with a defective!" He said this last part with a sneer, and added a slight mocking tone when he said 'Almighty Tallest'.

"That, and the Tallest Inaugural Ritual involved my thumbs being cut off," Purple explained. "Some kind of stupid symbolism about not needing them to rule the Armada."

"Oh," the mercenary responded, looking a bit deflated.

"But enough about me, Domm. We have some business that we kinda need bounty hunters for. Think you could ignore your policy for old times sake? Huh?!"

"I don't know…"

"Oh come on," Red interrupted, "I know if you fail, we're required to put a bounty on _your _heads, but you guys have a 100 success rate; what does it matter!?" Besides, if you _do _succeed, you will get a very LARGE amount of monies. And we are the Almighty Tallest; we probably don't have to give you a choice in the matter."

"Good points. Business has been kinda slow, lately…" Domm scratched his head and spun in his chair some more, obviously playing up his thinking about it. "Fine, you have a deal."

"Excellent. We'll transmit the data on your little target now. Oh, and by the way, you know that any other wanted targets killed on a mission from the Tallest themselves gets you double bounty, right?"

"No, I didn't know that. It's a very nice perk, though." Domm looked at the data. "Oh, this is going to be good."

**End of Chapter**

**This time I will give you the character voices at the beginning, to be more helpful. I list the people you can imagine as voicing each character, to give you a better feel for their voices.**

**Domm: Eric Kelso, reasonably big in video games. He's Kalas in Baten Kaitos, and Paul Phoenix in Tekken 5. He's also in Soul Calibur, but I'm not sure as whom.**

**Edh: Gilbert Gottfried. Yes, _that _Gilbert Gottfried.**

**Lio: Remi Kabuka, the voice of Russell of The Gorillaz. You probably haven't heard his voice, but a picture of Russell gives you a good idea of the voice.**

**Erris: Tara Strong (voice of just about everything. Think closer to Raven of Teen Titans, except, you know, Irken.)**

**By the way, Domm and Edh are named for Dom and Ed from the webcomic _Megatokyo._ Lio and Erris are named for Leo and Aeris from the webcomic _VGCats._ Just a tribute to them.**

**Next chapter: meet the crew of Dommination Industries.**


	2. Chapter 2

**avatar: hey, there. I still haven't gotten a review for this, and I have to say, it annoys me. I'm introducing my characters this chapter, and I hope you like them. If not, tell me what you dislike. My OC Domm will now do the disclaimer.**

**Domm: Hello, all. avatarjk137 does not own Invader Zim, and in that respect, he envies Jhonen Vasquez. He is, however, glad he invented this story, as well as Kloof, Reapir, and Dommination Industries, consisting of me and my friends and allies.**

**avatar: wow, you're really eloquent at disclaimers.**

**Domm: yeah, but I'm pretty bad at stand-up.**

**Chapter 2**

**Introductions Are In Order**

Domm walked through the halls of Dommination Industries, the bounty hunting agency named after himself. He was a moderately tall Irken, perhaps half or three-fifths the height of the Tallest. His antennae didn't bend near the tips, and one had been sliced off halfway up. He wore extremely dark goggles over his eyes. He was dressed in a silver-black outfit with a diagonal line pattern across the chest. He wore a black belt buckle, as well as black elbow and knee pads. His boots were also silver and black, and armored, and his black gloves were fingerless, unusual for an Irken. His Pak was slightly larger than the norm. The upper-left portion of his shirt bore the symbol of Dommination Industries, somewhere between an Armada symbol and an hourglass.

Domm read through the data on their target again and sighed, tapping at the flat screen he was holding. He wasn't sure if his teammates would approve his decision on making a contract with the Tallest, but it had been necessary. With the rebellions against the Irken Empire, all the other bounty hunters had polarized and joined either the Irkens or Resisty. He knew that remaining neutral would have soon become impossible anyway.

Red's grasp of their story had been more or less correct. Domm and Erris, the two founders of Dommination Industries, were both Irken defectives. They had spent the first 40 years of their life isolated, constantly tested in the hopes their (thankfully minor) defects would become curable or could be prevented from occurring again in the Irken gene pool. Because they were fairly tall, Domm had been allowed to privately study to be an Invader, and Erris studied as a guard captain. At age 40, hope for them was gone, and Tallest Miyuki ordered their execution. But Domm and Erris had beneficial abilities as part of their defects, and had escaped. Not long after that, they formed a bounty hunting agency with Edh, a friend and ally they had made, and the rest was history.

Domm walked into the lounge, listening to a debate between his teammates. "I still think my brute strength is enough," Lio, the most recent addition to their crew argued.

"And I think you should get yourself a big, bad, laser hammery-type thing or something and learn to fight with that," Edh argued. "Oh, hey, big boy!" Domm chuckled. Edh also had a minor flaw in his brain, a flaw that made him an expert with any weapon he got his hands on. But the brain problem also caused a weird glitch in his behavior – he talked to everybody he met in a flirtatious manner. It had taken Domm two decades to get used to it.

"Alright, people, we have a new bounty. You know the drill, pass the data around, make sure Erris ends up with it."

He handed the screen to Edh, who was one of Spleenk's race. Edh looked like Spleenk, but his skin was ice blue. The grey plate of bone his race sported on their forehead was tattooed with the Dommination Industries symbol, and another tattoo covered his upper lip. In his language, the tattoo read 'unique', but he had been devastated to find that the mirror reflection of the tattoo was also a word in his language. Whenever he looked in the mirror, he saw the word 'loser' written on his face. He wore light armor, colored black and orange, with electrodes installed designed to increase his strength in each of his four arms. He wore a long sword over each shoulder, and a shorter one on each hip. "Ooh, that's quite a price, big boy. Hey handsome, take a look at _this._"

He handed the screen to Lio. Lio was a Planet Jacker by race, and also an outcast, although of the group, he was the only one whose unnatural power had no downside. He had only been with the group for the last seven years, and he still felt like he wasn't as much one of the group. He wore armor in dark blue, dark green, and black on his body, designed to make him look even bigger than he already was. His light blue eyes and light green skin was only visible on his face. His mouth dropped as he neared the bottom of the data. "This is a contract with the Tallest? If we fail, they'll have us killed."

"Okay, A: I had no choice in the matter, B: We won't fail because we never fail, and C: Even if we _do_ fail, _The 'Almighty Tallest_' have tried to kill Erris and I before, and that didn't work. We'll be fine. Now give the stupid machine to Erris so she can look at the data."

Grumbling, Lio handed Erris the screen. Erris wore a large green shirt with swirling black lines on it, and normal black Irken pants and boots. A holster dangled from each hip, plasma pistols nestled snugly in the holsters. Her gloves had unusual green buckles on them, connecting them more tightly to her forearms. Her skin was oddly pale, contrasting more sharply with her green eyes. She chuckled as she read the report. "Fun, fun, fun." She looked up, revealing the tattoo on her forehead, which read in small Irken lettering, 'IF YOU CAN READ THIS, YOU'RE ALREADY DEAD'. "Is this all the data?"

"Yeah. How soon will you have a strategy planned out?"

"4…3…2…1…Done." Erris's defect was an interesting one. At the cost of most of her natural immune system, Erris was able to think strategically and tactically on the level of a supercomputer. Her ability to plan an ambush was second to nothing and nobody. "We can leave tomorrow." A small beeping sound filled the room. "Excuse me." A tentacle shot from Erris's large, unusual Pak (it had odd lines traced across it, and an antenna to uplink Erris's brain with actual computers), and plugged into the wall outlet. Power was siphoned from the base, up the mechanical tentacle, into Erris's Pak. Erris's skin glowed slightly as the power flowed thru her body. Most of her defect could be contained by supercharging her Pak once or twice daily for a virus purge, and Erris hated to let it control her life. "As I was saying, tomorrow we leave for Earth."

**End of Chapter**

**Domm: My power and defect were not revealed this chapter. There are hints to both. The power hint was much more vague, however, since that will be revealed next chapter, along with Lio's power. Care to guess... in a review?**

**avatar: Next chapter, the action starts, and Dib and Zim enter the story, as well as Kloof.**

**Domm: I bet 500 monies they still don't review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**avatar: This is the moment you've all been waiting for: this is when the action starts. Notice the way Dommination Industries operates: their military precision, their relentless tactics, and the fact that they always plan two moves ahead. Lio will do the disclaimer.**

**Lio: avatarjk137 does not own Invader Zim, even if he bought a DVD. Avatarjk137 does, however, own Kloof, Reapir, my fellow bounty hunters and I, and the contents of this story.**

**Chapter 3**

**Phase 1**

Domm landed cleanly on the roof of the small, green and purple home. The home stood out from the others around it due to the coloring and size, not to mention the various poor attempts at lawn decorations and the 'men's room' sign on the front door. His Pak confirmed that this odd residence housed the base of none other than Invader Zim. "Holy snacks, he's an _idiot_," Domm muttered. "Hunter Lead in position. Copy?"

"Hunter 1 getting in position." Erris swung through a window of the house. Gir was watching The Scary Monkey Show, and failed to notice her at all. "Hunter 1 in position. Sir Unit appears to be malfunctioning, as usual."

"Hunter 2 in position," Edh radioed in from the ship. "I guess I'm stuck with fire support today, eh, big boy?" Domm sighed.

"Hunter 3 in position," Lio confirmed, from atop a house up the street from Zim's. "Zim is walking home now, with a small human. There are several humans out and about on the street."

"Confirmed," Domm said. "Hunter 1, should we launch the probe?"

"Affirmative, Hunter Lead."

"You heard her, Hunter 2, launch the probe."

"Probe targeted… probe launched."

"Probe will activate in 40 seconds, Hunter 3," Domm said. "On activation, initiate Phase 1."

* * *

"No! I'm not going to tell you about the Hawaiian Islands!" Dib said. "It's important that I don't tell you…" he struck a dramatic pose, and his glasses flashed. "FOR THE FATE OF HUMANITY!" 

"FINE! The magnificent ZIM has _other_ methods of finding about filthy Earth locations," Zim hissed. Dib had followed Zim the entire way home to continue their argument. "I don't see why you try to save your horrible planet anyway. "Everybody here _hates _you _and_ your enormous head!"

"HEY! My head's not that big!"

"Ha! I could park the Massive on your gargantuan skull!" Zim had a good laugh over this, but Dib stopped and looked worried.

"Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched, Zim?"

"No. Why? Are you trying to make ZIM nervous?!"

Dib stared as a small dart struck the head of a nearby child, who dropped to the grass, unconscious. "What just happened?" Dib looked up, and saw a small, floating, alien object. It shot out another dart, and another. Each dart struck a human outside in the cul-de-sac, who then lost consciousness immediately. "Zim! This is your doing, isn't it?"

"Zim has never seen that probe before," Zim argued as the probe's dart struck the large tumor in the head of a woman in the next yard over from Zim, knocking her out. "Interesting."

"Wait, if that probe isn't yours, then whose is it?" Dib dodged to the side just in time to avoid a dart meant for him. It stabbed into the back of his jacket, pinning him to the sidewalk.

"All natives neutralized," a deep voice called near them. Dib looked up and saw Lio crash to the ground in front of Zim, and deliver a harsh backhand to his head, knocking him back several feet and cracking his false eyes. "Commencing with Phase 1."

"What?! Zim mumbled as his vision cleared, revealing Lio walking menacingly toward him. "The Planet Jackers have returned?"

"No," Lio replied calmly. "We don't care what my race wants with your planet."

"Then…why? …UGHH!" Zim was hurled back into his own yard by Lio's forceful kick, knocking him into the wall right next to his door. Domm flipped down from Zim's roof, landing in the yard in front of Zim. "BOUNTY HUNTERS?!" Zim yelled, finally comprehending.

"Bingo. Give us the technology, Zim," Domm ordered.

"Technology? I lost the Pak upgrade!" Zim argued. One of his lenses was now completely gone, and his hair was sideways.

"The other technology," Domm continued smoothly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Zim spat. "GNOMES! GET HIM!" Zim's gnomes turned to Domm, their eyes glowing red. Domm grinned and held up his hand. A sound like static filled the air, and a faint, multicolored glow emanated from his ungloved fingers. He leapt forward and quickly tapped each gnome with his glowing hand before they had a chance to respond. The gnomes sparked and shorted out, lifeless as regular garden gnomes.

"So… what's your plan B?" Domm asked as a weapon extended from his Pak. He grabbed it, the glow in his hand now gone. The weapon was similar to a rifle, with a few exceptions. It had a color scheme that was thoroughly Irken, and the tip consisted of a glowing ball of energy, contained by several claws that curved around it. Domm held the weapon, and aimed it at Zim.

"Uh oh." Zim darted inside his front door, and slammed it behind him. Domm pulled the trigger, and a spray of energy flew from the sphere in a shotgun-like pattern, embedding itself in Zim's closed door.

"Zim's in serious trouble. And these guys think he has some sort of new technology again!" Dib said aloud to himself. "I better call in Kloof!" Dib pressed several buttons on his watch. An image of a familiar Irken cyborg shimmered into view. "Kloof, Zim's-"

"I know. I'm on my way already." Kloof appeared to be in his ship already.

"How did you know?" Dib said, struggling to pull his jacket free from the ground.

"The Resisty took the _liberty_ of installing cameras in the base of Zim, and several other KEY Irken individuals. We've heard those bounty hunters planning Zim's capture a good twenty minutes now. He doesn't stand a CHANCE!"

"Really?" Dib finally managed to free himself.

"Really. Dib, this is going to sound a bit odd. I NEED you to keep them from capturing and killing Zim until I can arrive. I'll be _on site _in less than half an hour. Then I can capture _or _kill Zim myself, and The Resisty will get that tech!"

"How can I stop them?"

"Not sure. You have the element of surprise, though; they won't expect you to help Zim, and neither will he." An explosion rocked Kloof's ship. "Minor problem. I have to go. Try to help Zim, but it's more important that you _don't freakin' die._ Okay?"

"Okay. Bye." Dib cut the link, then tried to figure out what to do as he watched Domm and Lio stroll up to Zim's door.

* * *

"GIR! We're under attack!" 

"Shhhh!" Gir shushed. "This is my third favorite commercial this week, mastah!"

Zim took a moment to stop himself from killing Gir before noticing that he wasn't alone. Another Irken, a female, stepped from the shadows. "Where is the technology, Zim?" She asked threateningly, drawing a pair of pistols.

"I don't know what you're talking about! Gir, help me! Attack her!"

"Yes sir!" Gir responded, flashing to Duty Mode. He made it all the way to Erris before reverting to his 'normal' mode. "I got yoouuu flowers!" He said happily, offering her a box of portabello mushrooms.

"Thank you. Perhaps later," Erris responded without looking. She fired a shot, which passed through Zim's hair. "That was a WARNING. Where is the technology?!"

"Uh… um…" Zim backed up against his door. A massive hand reached through the door like a ghost, and clamped around Zim's green head, apparently solid again. "Oh, dookie." The hand pulled back sharply, slamming Zim's head several times against the door and dazing him. Lio walked the rest of the way through the door, again as if he were intangible, and dropped Zim.

Lio politely opened the plasma-riddled door to Domm, who marched thru the threshold. "Where is the tech, Zim?"

"I haven't the faintest clue what you bounty hunters are talking about," Zim retorted, scowling. "If the base of ZIM is what you desire, you can have it. But you cannot have ZIM!" He jumped into his toilet, and disappeared into it. Erris jumped back out the window of the house.

"Zim's leaving in the Voot, as planned," Domm said into his radio. "Hunter 1 will follow. Do your thing, Hunter 2."

"Locking on."

**End of Chapter**

**Yay! I got reviews last chapter! Thank you!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Avatar: Hi there. I'm sorry for my previous readers that it is only one chapter a week now, but I really can't help it. At least these aren't as short as some of the previous fics' chapters. Dommination Industries' very own Edh is providing disclaimers.**

**Edh: avatarjk137 does not own Invader Zim, just this story, Kloof, and the crew of Dommination Industries. Hey there, all you beautiful people. What are you girls and guys all doing after you read this fic?**

**Chapter 4**

**You Can Run, but You Can't Hide**

"Dad, can I borrow the basement arsenal?" Dib asked as he rushed into his father's room.

"Why? You aren't going to go ALIEN HUNTING again, are you?!" Professor Membrane asked suspiciously, looking up from the melon baller he was attaching a fusion engine to.

_I can't believe my dad learned about Zim… then had his memory erased just a couple of months ago!_ Dib thought bitterly. _Still, I have to lie to him to get the arsenal access. Oh well. _"No dad, I'm… um… I've been assigned to redecorate the classroom for the end-of-school-year party!" He lied, then finished with a wide smile.

"Oh, well I'm glad you're taking an interest in normal interests like helping out after school, son!" Membrane made a dramatic pose, causing electricity to crackle between his hands. "Just don't suck up to the teacher too much; my family can do well on tests on their own! Here ya go." He pressed a button on his goggles, and a wall opened up, revealing racks of futuristic weaponry. "Just fill up the tanks when you're done."

"Thanks, Dad!" Dib said, grabbing various weaponry.

"I'm glad my son is doing normal things," Membrane said proudly to himself.

* * *

"Computer!" Zim yelled irratibly.

"Why don't you leave me alone?" His computer asked in reply over his ship's communication relay.

"Have the _bounty hunters_ attacked the base yet?"

"No, but they're hacking all your data. They seem content to leave your base undamaged."

"That's odd. Computer, tell them to-" Zim was cut off by a warning siren. "Huh? I've been targeted? But no missiles or energy signature is coming my way… maybe it's a malfunction." A split second later, the craft shook heavily. "WHAT?? Both back lower pods destroyed?" But…"

"Scanners show it was a Gauss Rifle."

"Gauss Rifle?" Zim shouted angrily as he failed to maintain control of the Voot Cruiser. It crashed on a high rooftop, and Zim was hurled through the windshield. He bounced and rolled along the roof, and almost fell, clinging to the top by both hands. "How dare they destroy my Voot with outdated technology?!"

"Well, since the Empire considers it 'outdated', they don't put any protection against it on their ships," a feminine voice said behind him. Zim looked behind him, where Erris was floating in place, her Pak glowing. "The Graviton technology in my Pak, however, is cutting edge. Where is the technology you are hiding from us?"

"For the last time, I have no idea what you're talking about!" A radio extended from Zim's Pak. "Gir! Minimoose! Home in on my signal and PICK ME UP!"

"Yes, master! Ooohh! Yauggh!" Came Gir's Duty Mode shouts on the other end.

"Ready for some fun?" Erris asked. She grabbed Zim's arm, and pulled him off the ledge. She kicked him into the air, let him fall back towards her, kicked him again, watched as he flew through the air away from her, floated under him, and punched him up again. She continued juggling him like this several more times before Gir swooped in – wearing his dog disguise – and caught Zim. Minimoose flew in behind Zim and began providing cover fire from his eyes. "Crap, that little animal has some nasty lasers!" She said, drawing her pistols as she dodged the beams.

"Gir, I'm going to add the patch that puts you in Duty Mode for half an hour now," Zim informed his robotic assistant.

"Okay, green person!" Gir replied.

Zim pulled out a patch from his Pak, and opened Gir's head. Before he could add the patch, however, a small ball of blue plasma shattered it. Erris grinned and continued firing at Minimoose. He weaved back and forth, but a bullet hit his antler, spinning him around in place. "MINIMOOSE! Retreat!" Zim ordered.

"Squ34k!" Minimoose responded, and began orbiting Zim. Erris followed, but at a distance, staying out of Minimoose's range. Suddenly Gir began to vibrate. "GIIRR?" Zim asked. "What is _in_ your reserve fuel tanks? Please say it's fuel."

"I would," Gir said as pudding began to leak out of his legs, "but you told me not to lie to you." They began to spiral downward. Zim managed to steer Gir into crashing right on their roof. "That was convenient." A few bullets struck the roof around Zim. "Ahh! AHH!" Zim jumped off his roof, and swung in through his window, landing on Lio's chest. "Uh-oh." Lio smiled and punched Zim back out the window, and into the window of his neighbor's house. He turned to the man, not noticing that he was without his disguise, or that the man was watching TV and had completely ignored Zim exploding through his window. "Sorry, I was doing normal stuff."

The man merely grunted in response. Zim walked toward the front door and opened it. As soon as he did, an eight-foot-long missile flew right over his head, parting his antennae. The missile exploded behind him, destroying the home and propelling a screaming Zim forward. Zim screeched to a halt in a sitting position in front of Domm, who had been waiting on the street for him. "Do you want to tell us about the technology yet, Zim? Or do we have to have more fun?"

"This is what you consider _fun?_"

"If you were on our end, you'd be having fun too." Domm pointed his weapon at Zim's head. Technology. Spill it. Now."

"I know NOTHING about the technology or the spilled drinks of which you speak!" Zim argued.

"Is that your final answer?" Domm pumped his 'shotgun', and it began to hum. Suddenly, a shot rang out, whizzing an inch in front of Domm's goggles. He swerved suddenly to see the source of the shot. Zim took his chance and extended a robotic spider-leg, using it to smack the gun out of Domm's hands. Zim then deployed his other legs, and ran back toward his house. "Belgium!" Domm swore. "Who's firing on me?! Hunter 2, find the source of that shot and destroy it!"

"Roger that, big boy." Edh had easily been able to shoot down Zim's Voot Cruiser with a Gauss rifle, and the missile had been his work, too. "Like shooting Sirian fish in a barrel." He swerved the large, silver T-shaped cruiser easily spotted Dib on a rooftop a few blocks away. He had a sniper rifle in his hands, and was intently staring through the scope, trying to target Domm. Several carrying cases lay around him. _I can't believe a human child is dumb enough to interfere like this,_ he thought. He fired the Gauss rifle again, and a pair of small laser beams for good measure. The steel ball, as well as the lasers, hit an invisible dome around Dib. The steel ball bounced off, and the lasers faded. "WHAT!" He radioed Domm again. "Big Boy, the sniper is a human child. He has a shield of some sort up. Laser and ballistic attacks were both stopped by it. What should I do?"

"No clue. I'm going into Zim's base where he can't get me. Try buzzing him."

"That'll be _big_ fun," Edh replied happily.

**End of Chapter**

**If you guys have figured out the major plot twist, feel free to guess in a review. Otherwise, feel free to review anyway! The action continues next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

**avatarjk137: Here to do my disclaimer is my co-writer (and fellow insane-o) Yellowfur.**

**Yellowfur: I sure do love pumpkins, Cotton. avatarjk137 does not own Lilo & Stitch. What's with today, today?**

**avatarjk137: Uh.. this is, uh... an Invader Zim fic.**

**Yellowfur: Oh! Right! I'm thinking of another of your fics... well... you sure as hell don't own Invader Zim, either.**

**Chapter 5**

**Smacked Down**

"Out of my way, inferior FILTH!" Zim slid beneath Lio's feet, and down the trash can. "GIR!" He screamed as he dropped.

"Yes master!" Gir went into Duty Mode long enough to follow Zim down the tunnel.

"Oh no you don't!" Lio pounced after Zim, directly through the floor. He dived down thru the earth as if it were thin air. Zim finally arrived in his laboratory, and Lio flipped from the ceiling and hit the floor on his feet a mere split-second later. Zim narrowed his eyes in anger.

"ZIM has no _technology!_ LEAVE ME ALONE!" He kept his metal legs extended, and blasted lasers from them. Lio dived into the floor, and came up behind Zim. He kicked Zim like a crunchy green soccer ball, with pleasing results: Zim's screaming mass hit the glass case of his latest project. It was no more than an improvement of a previous plan: the brain parasite from before had been re-engineered, making it more stable, and just as importantly, changing its food source. It now ate lungs instead of brains, which was good because Irkens had brains, but not lungs. However, Zim's significant improvements would never be tested: the liquid seeped from the tank, and the parasite had not yet developed to the point where it could survive in oxygen. Zim groaned and jumped from the ruins of his plan in time to get crushed to the ground by Lio's clawlike foot.

"You, little Irken, are very fun to pummel. So where is it?" Suddenly, his helmet beeped. "Hmmm?" He jumped away from Zim, and turned. He then let a barrage of missiles pass through his body, except one, which he caught. He hurled the rocket back, and caught his assailer in the side. Minimoose crashed to the ground with a squeak. "Shame to hurt something so cute. Wait… no it isn't." He stomped Minimoose, then turned back. Zim was gone, but Gir was there.

"Want some cheese, scary person?" He offered Lio a block of swiss.

"Er, okay." He took the cheese, and noticed it beeping. He reached inside, and pulled out an incendiary grenade.

"It's from mastah!" Gir replied happily.

Lio noticed 10 seconds still left on the timer. "Yes, well, your master'll want the… cheese seeds back, won't he?" He offered the grenade to Gir.

"Good idea! HEY PIGGY!" Gir ran off in a direction entirely different than any of the escape routes Zim could have taken. Lio sighed.

"Hunter Lead, this is Hunter 3. Zim is leaving his base again. When does the Target arrive?"

* * *

"Hmm… that other Irken who went after Zim has gone somewhere. I can't find him. Oh well, I wonder if I can damage that ship that tried to shoot thru the shield?" Dib fired a rifle shell, but the bullet bounced off the heavy armor of the ship. "Darn! Maybe if I stop talking to myself…" He grabbed another weapon from one of the kits around him. It was short and round, like a large pistol. He tried firing that at the ship, which wasn't all that far away. The shell exploded before it hit the target, spraying tiny, metal-devouring nanobots all over the ship's hull. As Edh pointed the craft head-on at Dib, he noticed the nanobots on the status display. 

He sneered. "Nice try, love." He tapped a button, and a magnetic pulse from the ship fried the bots.

Of course, Dib was too far to see the nanobots or the pulse. All he saw was the shell exploding prematurely, instead of a horribly destructive weapon being thwarted just in time. "Did that do _anything_?" He asked rhetorically. Edh suddenly began accelerating the cruiser toward him. "What th…?"

Before he could finish, the craft smashed head-on into the shield. Although the shield didn't break, it was knocked backwards. Dib, and all his kits, remained suspended in the same spot within the energy shield. Unfortunately, this caused Dib to fall backward off a rooftop, along with the shield and all his other equipment. The shield-bubble shattered into nothing as it hit the ground. Dib hit the ground on his back, hard but not hard enough to suffer any real injury. He heard a nasal, irritating voice scream from the ship, "Next time don't mess with us, sexy!" The ship flew off, and Dib began picking up his dad's equipment before stopping.

"Sexy?"

* * *

Zim rushed out of his 'house' again. "Where can I go? They're at _every_ turn!" He tried running down the street, but stopped as a plasma bullet hit the street in front of him. He turned to see Erris standing atop a nearby building, waving. "That…horrible…GRAGH!" He ran in a different direction, only to see another bullet barely miss him. He changed direction and kept running, managing to dodge every bullet. 

Erris grinned. From her vantage point it was pretty clear that she was guiding Zim in a certain direction. "Keep running, shorty. It will all be over soon," she sang. She fired another bullet, steering Zim into the burning ruin of the house Edh's missile had destroyed earlier. She turned, and noticed a small spaceship streaking down from the late-afternoon sky. She muttered into her microphone, "Hunter 2, the guest of honor is here."

"Wanna go halves on a baby?" Edh's grating voice replied.

Erris sighed. "Same answer as the last 217 times, Hunter 2. NO!"

* * *

Zim stumbled into the ruined house, gasping for breath. He began choking, as he had forgotten that the house was actively on fire, and gasping for breath inside it was rather ill-advised. He composed himself and looked around, still breathing heavily, if a bit more carefully now. Most of the furniture was either vaporized or still burning, and the house had become structurally unsound from the missile's extreme heat and concussive blast. If Zim had launched the missile, he would have been proud. Miraculously, the fat man and his TV were still unharmed, and the man seemed oblivious to the fate of his house. Zim supposed this was a normal human reaction. 

"Where is the technology, Zim? I don't want to have to continue beating it out of you," Domm said from right behind Zim.

"I won't tell you again, bounty hunting FILTH! Zim knows not of the technology of which you speak!"

Domm leaned in really close to Zim, not even pointing his shotgun-like laser. "I know you don't, Zim. Trust me, I really do."

Zim had no idea how to respond to this information, so he did the first thing that popped into his twisted little mind: he reached up and grabbed Domm's goggles, intending to snap them against his face. Domm's reaction was swift and unexpected. The second Zim touched his goggles, Domm smashed the butt of his gun against Zim's skull, then kneed him in the gut, knocking him away. Two spider-legs extended from Domm's Pak, but these legs were unusual in that they ended in a vicious scythe. The blades lashed forward and stabbed Zim's arms, going all the way through. Zim screamed in agony, "MIGHTY DUNG!" as he was lifted into the air. Domm extended his four normal mechanical legs, for a total of six.

"Don't EVER touch my goggles," he commanded as he began thrashing Zim's hanging torso and legs with his spider-legs, keeping his actual feet planted. "I take it kind of personally." He dropped Zim's badly wounded body back to the ground. "So where's the technology?"

"What?" Zim could only mumble. This had stopped making sense to him long ago, and although the wounds in his arms could be fixed in a matter of hours, he was seriously beginning to doubt these bounty hunters would give him a moment's peace until he died.

Suddenly, the door was smashed off its hinges. A squat figure ran thru the doorway, and attacked Domm with a flying punch. "What the?" Domm backed away from the attack. "Identify yourself!"

"Zim! Are you alright?" Skoodge asked. His fat, sweaty body was encased in Hobo 13 Standard Issue body armor, which would provide limited protection against Domm's gun, as well as giving Skoodge a hundredfold increase in strength, agility, and durability.

Zim glared at Skoodge. "Does the MIGHTY ZIM look alright?"

"You LOOK like you got run over by the Massive. Get out of here! You don't have the equipment to take on this bounty hunter!"

"Right…" Zim staggered out of the burning, collapsing building.

"Zim! Get BACK HERE!" Domm fired his gun, but Skoodge blocked it with his body, denting his armor, but blocking the plasma burst. Skoodge tried to punch Domm again, but Domm blocked with his scythe-like artificial limbs. He then grabbed Skoodge's arm-mounted control panel with his own hand, which glowed again. Skoodge yelped and dropped to the ground as his armor shut off, leaving Skoodge in a 300-pound suit of dead machinery. "Fat idiot," Domm muttered as he slowly followed Zim out the door, leaving the complaining Skoodge completely unharmed, but completely unable to move.

Zim looked around, wondering where to go. His house? Still infested. Dib's house? Feh. Even if he had been willing to (which he wasn't, even in his semidelirious state), if he went into the street, that Irken girl would notice him and begin practicing her marksmanship on him. Where then? Before his pain-addled mind could figure out a solution, a large, cold hand grabbed him and yanked him into the relative darkness of the side yard of his house, shaded by several buildings and Zim's odd pipework. "Just like old times, isn't it?" Kloof asked, referring to Zim being crushed against a wall in a stranglehold, with Kloof pointing a sword at his throat.

"Yeah…" Zim managed… "A little _too_ familiar, TRAITOR!" He spat in Kloof's eye, but since his eye was robotic and encased in bulletproof glass, this didn't have the usual effect.

Kloof smiled. "Enough small talk. WHERE is the technology they were pestering you about? And _what is it_, for that matter?"

Zim was about to open his mouth to repeat himself for the _n_th time, but he somebody beat him to it. "There is no technology," Domm confirmed.

"We've been waiting for you, Kloof," Lio added.

"Why? It isn't my birthday," Kloof joked, but he had a sinking feeling about why they were really there.

Erris radioed into Edh on the ship. "Hunter 2, this is Hunter 1. The _target_ has arrived!"

"Cool. Ask him if he likes to party!"

**End of Chapter**

**How did you like the twist? Feel free to review and tell me.**

**Next chapter, a short break in the action, but it'll be back soon.**


	6. Chapter 6

**avatar: hello, faithful readers! And those readers who've been cheating on me with The Illustrious Crackpot, I forgive you. The action takes a break this chapter, but already starts to continue. Here's Erris with the disclaimer.**

**Erris: avatarjk137 does not own Invader Zim, that is the property of Jhonen Vasquez. However, he does own Dommination Industries, both the story and the characters, and he owns Kloof. Phase 1 was SUCCESSFUL! This _calls_ for a _party!_**

**avatar: Oh dear, she's gotten into the Dr. Pepper. As you may have noticed, Erris is scary and unstable, in a professional kind of way, but she's less grim than Tak and Gaz. It's a contrast I've been trying to play up, I felt we needed a slightly less evil female in Invader Zim.**

**Chapter 6**

**Target Acquired**

"But… My Tallest!" Tak sputtered. "Why can't _I_ be the one to bring the _BETRAYER_ Kloof down?! I've ALREADY come closer than anybody before me! You've FINALLY allowed me to take my _rightful_ place… as an INVADER!"

"And there's your answer, Tak," Red said in a commanding tone, waving a french fry at the large, purple-eyed visage of one of the most dangerous Irkens in the Armada. "You're an INVADER. Go INVADE stuff. We already hired some outside help to take care of our Kloof problem. Isn't Planet Frap enough of a CHALLENGE? The Empire needs to drill the planet for those _whipped beverages!_"

"I _love_ Planet Frap," Purple added between bites of a Mooshminkey bacon burger. "Their stuff is… so _delicious_!"

"Yes my TALLEST," Tak agreed reluctantly, "I acknowledge that Frap is an _important_ acquisition for the _Empire_, but… wait… did you say you hired… _bounty hunters_ to beat down Kloof?" Her voice, tinted with its sinister and inexplicably British accent, now betrayed her disbelief. "With all due respect, my Tallest, bounty hunters are SCUM!"

"Heeyyy…" Purple objected, but then he had to think for another second. "…I know this scum personally," he finished finally. Satisfied, he finished his burger.

"Besides that, how did you get _bounty hunters _to even work for the Armada?" Tak asked.

"Again," Red said testily, "He knows these guys _personally_ and… Tak?"

"Yes, my Tallest?" She asked eagerly.

"Why are several hams orbiting you?"

"Oh… that's nothing to worry about, my TALLEST! Let me _assure _you, it's for the express purpose of making me _stronger,_ and by extension, making the EMPIRE _stronger_!" One of the hams bathed her in a red light, causing electricity to crackle across her body. "See?"

"Yes, I do see. What were we talking about?" Purple asked as he got started on his milkshake.

"The bounty hunters," Tak reminded him, trying not to show frustration with her leader.

"Oh yeah," Purple said. "Well, Tak, _trust me_, these guys are the cream of the milkshake!"

Tak sighed. She knew she'd always get another chance when the bounty hunters failed, which she felt was a certainty. In her mind, only she possessed the potential to bring down the _traitor_ Kloof. "As you wish, My Tallest." She saluted. "INVADER Tak, _signing out_!" As she shut off the communications, another two hams bathed her in light, and she cackled in pleasure at the power buzzing through her muscles. "MIMI!" Her small robot appeared in front of her in a gust of wind, a few leaves blowing with the gust around the robot's small but dangerous form. Tak had programmed the wind and leaves for dramatic effect, which she had found to be a great fear tactic, as well as fairly therapeutic. "Mimi, do a _comprehensive_ search on everybody who has good reason to hate ZIM!"

Mimi complied, and the list (the very, very long list) was ready in under ten seconds. "Hmmm, this is a long list. Filter out anybody with a history of INCOMPETENCE!" The list popped up again onscreen, this time under two dozen people. "Now filter out those in NO position to help me, or those who would be _unwilling_ to." It now displayed only three faces. "Ahh, who's that center person?" As another ham-ray empowered her, an extensive file popped up on Sizzlorr, Frylord of Shloogorgh's Flavor Monster, the most successful non-chain fast food restaurant in the Empire, and a major attraction at Foodcourtia. "Hmm, a promising ally." Tak began doing her maniacal laughter again. Thanks to the intoxicating sensation she got from the ham-rays, it would be several hours before the laughter came to an abrupt stop.

* * *

"Wait," Zim said. "Wait," he repeated. Then once more, slowly: "Waaaiiit… I, the _magnificent _ZIM, am not the target?" 

"Wait, he's not the target?" Skoodge echoed.

"Wait, _he's _the target?" Dib asked redundantly, pointing at Kloof.

Everybody looked at Kloof expectantly. "Oh, right." He dropped Zim and pointed at himself in mock surprise. "_Wait, I'M the target?!_"

"Yes," Domm said with a smile. "You are the target. Why would the ALMIGHTY TALLEST contact us to beat a technology out of Zim?"

"This was our Tallest's contract?" Zim asked as he struggled to his feet. "But bounty hunters don't _work_ with the Tallest!"

"They're only _your Tallest,_" Erris reprimanded sharply. "WE are independent now."

"Then why are you hunting ME?" Kloof asked incredulously. "I'm trying to defeat the Tallest and turn the _Empire_ around!"

"We don't HATE the Empire or anything," Domm countered. "We're just independent, that's all."

"But WHY are you independent?" Skoodge asked.

Domm looked first at Skoodge, then at Dib, who was on the roof above him. "When did YOU get here?" he sneered.

"I'm curious, too. Why ARE you independent?" Kloof asked.

"We're defectives and we escaped execution. YOU won't be so lucky," Erris sneered. "HUNTER TWO! FIRE!"

Kloof turned around. "What's he firing?" He saw a missile flying right at him. "Uh, Dib? GO AWAY NOW!"

"Right!" Dib yelped, and he began running. Kloof got out his other sword, and stared the missile down. Just as it looked like he would allow the missile to hit him, he simply fell over backwards and the missile buzzed over him, flying off into the distance. Domm and Erris both drew their firearms and quickly began firing. Kloof blocked his face with his arm while Skoodge grabbed the wounded, half-conscious Zim and ran out of the way with him. Kloof's metallic red armor, built onto his body, took only minor dents from the small plasma fire, but the scarred patch of organic skin still making up the lower half of his face was quite vulnerable. When they stopped momentarily, noticing the weapons had little to no effect, Kloof rushed them both with swords out. Erris yelped and engaged the graviton function on her Pak, flying out of the way. Domm, however, activated his spider legs – all six of them.

"PHASE II: HUNT DOWN THE TARGET!" he screamed as he slammed the two scythe-like front legs down on Kloof's body, only to have them blocked by Kloof's swords. He grinned: Kloof had fallen for his bluff. He then fired the shotgun from his normal arms, aiming for Kloof's face. Kloof responded by rolling back, avoiding the gunshot and causing Domm's two blades to strike the ground hard. Kloof rolled to his feet and slashed, sending a wave of energy at Domm, who crouched his legs down low and avoided it, then fired another spray of plasma. The blast caught Kloof off-balance and knocked him off his feet. Kloof rolled to his feet, and immediately had to begin dodging Domm's scattershot and Erris's rapid pistol fire from the air. He ran at Domm again, but jumped over him this time. Erris was careful not to hit Domm, and shot Kloof's ankle in the air, knocking him off-balance again. He landed hard, but got up and kept running. He looked back to see if they were chasing him or taking aim, and ran right into a huge, armored, outstretched arm.

He looked up woozily to see Lio's leering face stare down at him. "End of the line, traitor-boy." He reached up with his foot to bring it down on Kloof's face, but Kloof caught the foot. He swung out a leg and tripped Lio, grabbed his swords, and leapt to his feet. As soon as he did, a Gauss rifle shell sped by him, grazing his shoulder and powdering the spike on the armor plate of said shoulder.

"That would have _really _hurt," Kloof remarked. Lio took the opportunity of Kloof's distraction to mule-kick him in the gut, and Kloof doubled over from the force of the blow. Lio followed up with an uppercut, knocking Kloof away. Kloof landed on his feet, only to be hit by another spray of plasma from Domm. Kloof rolled to his feet, taking more hits from Erris's pistols, and looked at his assailants. "CRAP! There's way too many of them! I'm getting OUT of here!" He took off, another Gauss ball narrowly missing his head. Domm signaled for the others to move forward, but a small rifle shell whizzed in front of Erris's face, stopping them. "It's that _human_ kid again," Erris sneered.

"Right!" Domm activated his earpiece. "Hunter 2, deal with the human kid _again._ Hunter 1, go give Zim our _card._ Hunter 3, we take the Target. GO!" Domm and Lio took off after Kloof's now distantly retreating form, and Erris flew over to Zim, who was being helped inside by Skoodge, a sparking Minimoose, and a charred but smiling Gir.

"Hello, BAIT!" She laughed derisively.

"What do _you_ want?" Skoodge spat, probably the rudest he had been in years. He had been totally outraged by this entire incident, and he'd have to call it the low point of living with Zim.

"I just wanted to… _give you our business card,_" she said with a smirk. She grabbed something from a pocket, pulled her arm back, and threw it. It stuck in Gir's forehead, and she flew off silently.

"What does it say?" Zim asked faintly. "Read those _lowlives'_ card to the MAGNIFICENT _Zim…_"

Skoodge yanked the card from Gir's head, causing him to squeal with pleasure. He read aloud, "**YOU'VE JUST BEEN DOMMINATED!** Want to taste sweet vengeance? Call **_Dommination Industries_** at **95364-01138-0475-7!** We will tell you who ordered the hit on your loved one, and for a nominal fee… **WE WILL EXACT REVENGE!** 100 percent success rate!" He looked at the card. "Zim, is it alright if I keep this?"

**End of Chapter**

**Yes, that is what it seems like. Dommination Industries advertises to the friends and family of the people they attack. Don't bother calling the number.**

**Next chapter: Kloof deploys Reapir to defend himself! And Edh shows up Dib... again!**


	7. Chapter 7

**avatar: This one spilled easily from my twisted, twisted mind. I don't know if that's good or bad... (drifts off for a moment, then wakes with a start) can pants be used as currency? Oh... um... I do not own Invader Zim. Jhonen Vasquez does. But I do own Kloof, Reapir, Domm, Edh, Erris, and Lio. And the contents of this story. That too.**

**Chapter 7**

**Phase 2**

Dib sure was glad he remembered to turn the shields back on. "Whew, I sure am glad I remembered to turn the shields back on," he said to himself. Edh had been pounding the shields with a steady spray of laser fire for several minutes now, and the shields hadn't even been weakened. Even better, Dib had now thought of having his back to a wall, and Edh couldn't shove the shield back. The problem was, while the shield was blocking Edh's constant stream of green laser beams, it couldn't let Dib's rifle shells through. Dib was pinned down, but invincible. "Hopefully Kloof can beat the other three bounty hunters," he said.

* * *

_I HAVE to get away from here, _Kloof thought to himself. _These guys are serious, and I need to fight them on my terms if I want to beat them three on one._ He noticed Domm chasing him, his spider-legs lifting him and making him more plainly visible. All the humans outdoors in the near area were still unconscious from the probe's darts, and Kloof's ship was luckily parked on a flat rooftop just a couple of blocks over. Suddenly, plasma rounds began peppering the ground around him, one hitting him in the back. He turned and saw Erris. She was still at a distance, but had come within firing range. _Great, more company._ He began to scale a wall, digging his metal fingers into the cement to climb. "REAPIR! I need a _distraction!_" Reapir materialized instantly from his shadow. The small black robot had enjoyed full repairs since his last venture, which had involved being eaten by a shadow dragon and electrocuted by Zim. Reapir was a stealthy, fast robot capable of doing a lot of damage in emergencies, and this was an emergency. "Give the IRKEN GIRL your party package." Reapir played an old movie voice clip of, "SIR YES SIR!" and turned to face Erris. Kloof reached the rooftop and began to leap from roof to roof. _I hope Reapir survives,_ he thought. _I'm really starting to like the little guy.

* * *

_

"What're you doing?" Gaz asked.

"Gaz?!" Dib asked incredulously. "How'd you get inside the shield?"

"It's almost dinnertime, Dib, and dad said to stop working on the _classroom _and come home for dinner."

"I'm kind of pinned down here, Gaz." Dib gestured to the blast of green behind him. "Or haven't you noticed?"

"Plug the rifle into the shield's CPU box," Gaz instructed. "Then switch the _rifle _into tertiary fire mode. The shield will feed power into the rifle."

Dib shrugged and followed her instructions. Power immediately began flowing into the shield after the laser struck it instead of simply deflecting off. The energy ran up the cable, and the rifle began to glow. Dib fired, but the rifle was vibrating from the raw power it was being fed. The shell pierced the shield, disrupted the beams, and sped right by the ship. It exploded in the distance and created a vacuum, sucking in a cloud and nearby formation of geese.

"HOLY SHIT!" Edh pulled away from Dib, but not before firing one last Gauss ball. Now that Dib's shield was deactivated, the metal ammunition easily destroyed the box containing the shield generator. "Count yourself lucky I didn't kill you, sexy!" he screamed as he shot off into the distance.

"_Nice going_," Gaz said sarcastically. "YOU MISSED! If he had hit you, you would have _died! _Then I would've had to drag your mutilated huge head back to Dad and he would've had to CLONE you again!"

Dib looked up from packing up the rifle. "What was that last part?"

"Nuthin'." Gaz opened up a soda.

* * *

"Where are you, TARGET?!" Erris asked, looking around. She spotted him leaping from rooftop to rooftop. "Got you!" Suddenly, a barrage of missiles flew upwards towards her. "RESISTANCE is _futile_!" She shot at every missile, but she missed one, which got through. She kicked it away, but a small black shape tackled her out of the sky. "Get… OFF!" She kicked Reapir away and began shooting at him rapidly. Most of her shots bounced off his armor, but one plasma bullet pierced a joint in his plating, and he fell, one arm hanging useless. "No little robot can _harm_ ME!" She yelled triumphantly. "Wait, where'd he go?" Reapir was gone. He reappeared in her shadow, but she kicked him away. He faded away again, and this time three of him materialized from her shadow, circling around her. She growled and shot two of them, but they were illusions, and the third tackled her again. 

She rolled around on the ground, grappling with the little black robot, who had begun to play 'Why Can't We Be Friends' on max volume during the struggle. Even with one arm immobilized, the little dark robot was very agile, and his claws moved almost faster than Erris's eyes could follow. She finally extended a tentacle from her Pak. It connected into a nearby outlet, and every street light in the city dimmed and flickered. The power boost she got gave her a viral purge, and had the added bonus of hurling Reapir forcefully off her body.

Reapir got up and rushed toward her, but received a plasma bullet in his left eye, piercing it. The green light in his other eye flickered, and he disappeared. Erris looked at her shadow and stomped it, her body still crackling with the occasional burst of power, but she was alone. "I wish I had a SIR Unit," she said aloud.

* * *

Kloof finally arrived at his ship. The door swung open, recognizing its owner, and he jumped in. He felt a large armored fist connect with his face, cracking his visor, and he was hurled back to the ground. Lio grinned and stepped out of the small ship. "Where are you going? The party's still winding up." 

Domm arrived behind Kloof. "Good _work_, Hunter 3." He paused to read the Irken engraving on the door of the ship. "A MANIA MK III, eh? I've never heard of that ship before."

"It's nice on the interior," Lio noted. "We should take it after we kill this rebel."

"I'd LOVE to see you try!" Kloof got up, drawing his swords, and spun with them out. The circular shockwave he created forced Lio and Domm to duck, and Kloof leapt over Lio's head, into the ship. Lio grabbed Kloof's ankle and pulled him back out, and raised his foot to stomp down on Kloof. Kloof rolled out of the way, and dodged the plasma spray from Domm's gun as he got up. He swung his sword forward, but Domm caught it between his gun and his other hand. His hand began glowing, and Kloof felt a jolt. He swung the sword again, but it no longer produced an energy wave, and Domm simply stepped out of the sword's range.

"The TALLEST said in their report that you are mostly mechanical," Domm said casually. "I _wonder_… if I use my power on your chest, your VITALS will stop working, won't they?" Kloof's reply was to drop his non-functioning sword, grab the energy sphere on the end of Domm's shotgun, and squeeze. The sphere ruptured, and the backlash knocked Domm screaming off the building. Kloof turned around, and ducked just in time, narrowly missing Lio's haymaker.

"It's not _nice_ to hurt my boss," he snarled. He punched again, and Kloof jumped back and out of the way, but Lio followed up with a kick. Kloof was still in the air, and couldn't dodge, so the kick knocked him back and sent him rolling. He got up, coughing, and slashed low with the sword that still functioned. Lio hopped over the shockwave, giving time for Kloof to dive underneath him. He grabbed his malfunctioning sword and dived into the door of the Mania, closing it behind him. Lio jumped through the door, and began punching at Kloof in there. Kloof couldn't jump around as easily in the ship's close quarters, and was caught off-guard by Lio's ability, so he could only block the vicious punches with the flat of his swords, each blow making his body shake.

"Don't you guys take a SNACK break?" He asked hopefully. The door began to bend and groan, and the scythelike claws of Domm's additional legs began to poke through. Kloof whistled, and the door opened. Domm, off-balance, fell inside, and Reapir hopped in after them. Domm crashed into Lio, knocking both of them to their knees, and Kloof head-butted Lio, knocking them both back out of the ship. Reapir shut the door as Kloof began to raise the ship into the air, and as Domm untangled himself from Lio, he watched the vehicle ascend. It dodged a Gauss rifle ball as it rose into the darkening sky.

"Alright then," Edh said as he slid the ship in right next to them, and Erris landed smoothly. "Shall we go and bring sexy back?"

"YES, Edh," Domm replied as they got into the silver ship. "And stop calling the target and everybody else you shoot at 'Sexy'."

"But I can't help it, Big Boy," Edh whined as the ship zipped off after Kloof's.

**End of Chapter**

**Next chapter, Dommination Industries attempts to stop Kloof's escape. And, uh, stuff.**

**avatar: I'd like to hear what you guys think of Lio, Erris, Domm, and Edh. Their personalities, their methods of fighting (and you'll see more of Edh than just manning the ship), whatever. I'd really like to know, even if you dislike one or more of them.**

**Tak: You hear that? He'd like to know what you think. You should (eyes do that shiny hypnotic thing) review this chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Avatar: Sorry I'm late. I won't try to make excuses. However, I will say that I am trying to regain my one-chapter-ahead of time advantage with this fic, and I'm already working on Chapter 9.**

**Kloof: Avatarjk137 does not own Invader Zim. He does own this storyline, Reapir, Domm, Edh, Erris, Lio... oh yeah, and me.**

**avatar: Thanks, Kloof. I don't know how I can be tired after this much caffiene.**

**Chapter 8**

**Escape Prevention**

Skoodge shoved Zim into a healing chamber. The special chamber would heal Zim at several times the normal rate, so Zim would be fine in half an hour. He pulled the last piece of useless Hobo battle armor off his leg and tossed it away. Every fuse in it had simultaneously blown, so it would take a while to fix. Skoodge guessed the same rule was true for Zim's guard gnomes. "Computer," he said, "effect repairs on Gir and Minimoose." The computer didn't complain. It never did for Skoodge. He got out a broom bearing the Irken insignia and began sweeping up the gooey remnants of Zim's latest project with a sigh. After a few minutes, he heard knocking and turned around.

Zim was pounding furiously on the recovery chamber with his head (his arms were a bit numb), and it opened. "Prep the VOOT! We're going after those horrible, stinking, AWFUL-"

"ZIM!" Skoodge cut him off. "You can't move your _arms_, Zim. Your cute little robo-sidekicks are still under repairs! Wait a little while!"

"FILTHY LIES!" Zim screamed out without warning (or basis). Then he regained his composure as suddenly as he had lost it. "I'll be fine, _Skoodge_. PREP the _Voot!_"

"Zim… the Voot Cruiser is laying smashed on some roof somewhere. You heal up, and I'll go get the _Voot Carrier_ and bring it back. Then we can go, okay?"

Zim struggled to think of an objection to this, but couldn't. "…Okay."

* * *

"_Alright_, let's see the damage." Kloof had the ship's computer run a scan on his body. Minor damage to the plating everywhere, but major damage nowhere, which didn't really surprise him. It was mostly nice to have no ability to feel pain in most of his body, but the downside was complete unawareness of any damage to his arms and legs (and large parts of his torso and head) until it became a problem. He typed in more orders, and the computer scanned Reapir. He was a lot worse off, that shot to the eyepiece had scrambled his ability to record and recite audio, and his right arm and left eye were dead weight. He would need major repairs. "At least I'm not being _followed_," he said thankfully. The ship shook and wobbled, and a red light began to blink. "Oh, DUNG," he moaned. "I'm being FOLLOWED!" 

The large, silver ship belonging to Dommination Industries rose up behind him, and a face appeared onscreen. Rather, one face appeared in each corner of his main display. Although Kloof was familiar with Lio, Erris, and Domm, Edh's face was new to him, and had the upper half of Kloof's face been mobile, he would've raised an eyebow. Edh and Spleenk's race wasn't exactly known for the cunning required to be a bounty hunter. Still, he had never known one possessed of that skin color before either, and he supposed every rule had an exception. Like him. Sighing, he looked at them. They were grinning at him in a rather discomforting way. "Well?"

"I bet you're WONDERING how we tracked you so _easily_," Erris said gleefully. "Well-"

"Come to think of it, YEAH! This is a _stealth_ ship. How did you track me?!"

"You got _shot_… by my PLASMA BULLETS! The bullets use a _unique energy wavelength_. You'll be hard-pressed to find it elsewhere anywhere in the UNIVERSE! It can be _easily _tracked… even across _stars!_"

"Oh… that's clever. And very _bad _for me."

"YES!" Domm noted. "It is VERY bad for you. We will now hunt you down…" he stopped mid-sentence.

After almost half a minute, everyone had become shifty and uncomfortable, except for Domm, who was still grinning like an idiot. "And what?" Lio prodded.

"AND KILL YOU DEAD!" Domm screamed.

"Uh… boss? Your timing was off."

"Ragger-brazzle… TIMING!" He mumbled, then screamed, "JUST KILL HIM ALREADY!"

"No need to get _mad_, Big Boy. I'm killing him!" Edh began rapidly pulling, pushing, twisting, and pressing things on his control panel. A flash of laser light sped towards Kloof's sleek ship.

"No chance, fool. This baby's CUTTING EDGE, I have MAD SKILLS, and you no longer OUTNUMBER ME!" Kloof's ship turned sideways, avoiding the lasers, and quickly U-turned, going at the silver ship head on. Kloof fired a volley of missiles and pulled up. As it turned out, he pulled up at the last second, because Edh fired a Gauss projectile. The speed and rotation of the ball destroyed all of the missiles, and would have pulverized Kloof had he evaded a split-second later. Kloof skimmed over his enemies' ship, his own craft upside-down so he could see their faces as he flew over them. He U-turned again and got behind them, firing a stream of discs. The ship spun in place, charging straight through the discs, and ramming Kloof. Kloof gritted his teeth and struggled to regain control of his smaller ship. He hid behind an asteroid, but that appeared to be futile, as the silver ship's lasers punched clean holes right thru the space rock.

"Give it up, Kloof! I've got a FREAKING AWESOME pilot, and the Maverick Custom is a _very_ powerful ship!" Domm seemed to get a lot more emotionally involved in battles he watched then battles he actually participated in. It seemed only Edh was actually piloting the Maverick Custom. Kloof zoomed out from the scarred asteroid, revealing that he had been charging a large blue laser beam. The beam lanced out, striking the center of the Maverick.

"You seem to think pretty highly of your SHIP of _garbage_," Kloof laughed. The front of the Maverick Custom had entirely blown free of the top of the 'T' shape. "I can't believe I actually BISECTED it!" Suddenly, the sides of the 'T' broke off as well, and Kloof stopped laughing. "Joke's on me," he muttered.

Suddenly, a Gauss shell slammed into the Mania Mk III from below. Each piece of the Maverick Custom had regained control, and pointed at Kloof. The long skinny front piece had fired the Gauss rifle still attached to it, and Edh was piloting it. The central piece was piloted by Domm, and Lio and Erris each had control of a side piece. "You see why it's the Maverick _Custom_ now, don't you?" Domm asked, grinning sinisterly. "Flay him."

A beam lanced from each of Erris and Lio's side components, striking the Mania head-on. Kloof regained control and sped away in the direction he had come, leaving mines in his wake. Domm launched missiles, each rocket seeking and destroying a mine, and Edh lined up another Gauss shot. It grazed Kloof, and the Mania had now taken more damage than it was designed to. He groaned and deployed more mines, but another beam slammed into his ship. "CRAP! I had no time to _respond_!" The ship began to spiral out of control, and he managed to guide it onto a nearby moon.

"Follow him," Domm instructed. "We are bringing back _part_ of him, or maybe _all_. He's escaped near-certain death, so we need ENTIRELY certain death." The Maverick Custom reformed, and flew down toward the icy green moon. "This time Edh, you're coming. We NEED your skills."

**End of Chapter**

**Next Chapter: Kloof has a rough landing, and Dommination Industries moves in for the kill.**

**Sorry about lack of quality and puntuality, but conditions were... suck.**


	9. Chapter 9

**avatar: Hey, all! I'm fully ahead again (Chapter 10 has already been finished) and I am glad to be working ahead! I think the quality has gone back up, I'm really satisfied with this chapter and the next! FOR SPARTA! Sorry, I saw _300_ Saturday night and it rocked! I don't own Invader Zim, but I own Kloof, Reapir, Domm, Erris, Lio, Edh, and the contents of this story! Whoo!**

**Chapter 9**

**Trapped in the Grinder**

"Ow. And again, ow." Kloof pulled himself to a standing position on the chilly, mint-green surface, and twisted his head. With a series of clanking noises, it popped back into place. "That actually hurt, so I'm SURE it was a bad crash." He checked inside his wrecked ship. Reapir was still repairing. "Great." He opened his arm panel. "Hey, Lard Nar. I _really_ need a pickup. I'm on that icy green moon off of Planet…DIRT! You know the one, it's right on the route between _Earth_ and the base. Oh, and there are these _crazy_ bounty hunters chasing me for the TALLEST. Four of them. And they're actually skilled. SKILLED! Anyway, I need that pickup. Believe it or not, I'm in _pretty bad shape_. But I've ELUDED them… for now." He closed his arm. _That's enough of my voice for now._ He checked his own body for damage; except for a few more dents on his body, he was fine. His ship's crash had scored a deep crater in the ground, just short of the overhang of a 300-foot cliff. He stepped to the ground, then looked around.

He didn't have to look for long. A hail of bullets erupted around him, and he looked up, shielding his face. Erris was floating in the air, shooting at him again. "Already with the shooting?" He saw the Maverick Custom land a few dozen yards away, and Edh, Domm, and Lio emerged. Lio dove underground, and the other two charged forward. Edh carried four swords: his upper left arm carried a large broadsword with a flat tip, and his upper right carried a very long, flat, katana-esque blade. His lower right blade was a short sword with a complicated set of wiring run through it. His last blade was a short but thick dagger, and he carried it low with his lower left hand. Domm, oddly enough, was unarmed, but his hands glowed with energy. "Fine then!" Kloof screamed, drawing his swords. "If you can KILL me, by all means do so! Otherwise, prepare for a _beating_! And maybe a looting of your ship, if it contains nice things!"

Edh stopped a few yards from Kloof, and quickly began making stabbing motions with all his blades. Kloof staggered back under a rain of waves exuded from Edh's swords, which all appeared to use similar technology to his. Kloof rolled away, then slashed with one of his blades as his feet touched ground again. Nothing happened. _Crap,_ he thought. _Domm's really screwed it up._ He slashed with his other blade, and this time a large wave of force came out. Edh blocked it with his broadsword, then leaped forward. Kloof blocked every one of a number of strikes, but when the katana struck Kloof's blade, it twisted, wrapping around one of Kloof's swords. "That's a bit unusual."

"Do you like it, hot potato?" Edh asked, his manner as flirtatious as usual. "Now you have one free sword, and I have three."

"Did you call me…HOT potato?"

Edh giggled as he slashed rapidly with his other swords. "Mayyyybe." Kloof blocked Edh's strikes, but several snuck through, and these actually pierced Kloof's armor. Kloof finally kicked Edh in the chest, knocking him away and pulling his sword free. He dodged another raining-down of plasma bullets, and slashed a wave of energy up toward Erris, which she easily dodged. Suddenly, Lio's hand rose from the ground and grabbed Kloof's foot, causing him to lose his balance. Domm jumped forward, his knees landing on Kloof's chest, and reached down with his glowing fingers. Kloof desperately parried with the flat of his shorted-out sword, and shoved Domm away. Domm regained his balance, and Lio's fist erupted through his chest harmlessly, punching Kloof in the face. Domm then leapt forward with his palms again, but Kloof kicked the taller, skinnier Irken away.

Lio let Domm pass thru him, then caught him and placed him on his feet. Lio then turned and grinned. "You gonna get it now." He leapt forward in a shoulder tackle. Kloof slashed with his blades, slicing off large portions of Lio's shoulder and chest armor, but Lio got through and knocked Kloof off his feet.

Erris was watching from above. She was letting her pistols recharge in their holsters. "That's it, Hunter Three. Hunters Lead and Three, keep _pushing _him back. Now, Hunter One, unleash HELL on my signal!"

Lio jumped, drop-kicking Kloof. Even though Kloof parried with his swords, the force of the blow still knocked him back to the overhang of the cliff. _At least they can't come at me from all sides now,_ he thought. Edh began creating plasma waves with his swords again, but Kloof swung his one good sword downward. The stronger wave of Kloof's sword swept aside all of Edh's, but Edh jumped easily out of the way. He ran up to Kloof, and they began trading blows again, Kloof now careful to dodge the long, thin sword instead of parrying it.

They brought their swords together in a stalemate, intensely staring each other down. Edh broke the silence in a way only he could. "Sayyy… are you a parking ticket?"

This was probably the last thing Kloof expected to hear. While fighting in fierce melee combat, Kloof was used to threats, pleas for mercy, insults about his heritage, warnings, bragging, more threats, profanity, and even bizarre accusations about his sexual orientation. He was expecting some of those, and he was ready for them. He was not ready for this, and Kloof had to stop a moment to consider exactly what Edh had just said to him. Finally he managed to respond. "…_What?_"

Edh took the opportunity to force Kloof back even farther, his heel now almost over the edge. "Because you have FINE written _all over you_!"

"EXCUSE ME?!" Kloof sputtered. Edh responded by swinging his broadsword vigorously. The blade, instead of producing a force wave like one would expect, launched a spherical, blue, smoking object. Kloof ducked under it easily, but heard it whine as it passed over his head. It suddenly exploded with the force of a rocket-propelled grenade behind him, shoving him to his knees and distracting him. "That sword _fires_ plasma grenades?" Before he could close on Edh again, he'd placed three more plasma grenades on the ground between him and Kloof in an arc, a line slightly concave toward Kloof. Kloof realized where he was standing – the overhang of a cliff. "You're _good_…" Kloof admitted.

The grenades all simultaneously exploded, sending Kloof and the large chunk of ice and rock he was standing on dropping off the edge of the cliff. Kloof plunged his swords into the cliffside, and stopped his fall about halfway down, nearly wrenching his arms in the process. Edh stood at the edge of the cliff and looked down at Kloof, grinning. "Hey hot stuff, here's a rope to pull you up!" He aimed his dagger at Kloof, and the dagger opened up. A shining metal cable, tipped with a claw, launched straight downward at Kloof. Kloof let go of one sword, his body swinging in the air, and dodged the claw. He regrabbed his other sword, and pulled it free, intending to cut the cable. However, Lio's grinning face melted out from the cliffside. "Miss us?" He punched Kloof in the gut, stunning him. Erris came crashing down from above, screaming bloody murder and knocking Kloof and his swords free of the cliff entirely. Erris slowed to a stop a few feet above the ground, but Kloof impacted the ground hard enough to crater it. He lay in the crater, gasping as Erris laughed, and Edh and Lio slid down the cliff on their butts.

"He's almost DONE for!" Domm cried triumphantly from the top of the cliff. He looked up, and saw a small ship streaking out of the sky. It was a familiar purple Voot Cruiser.

A voice boomed out from the cruiser. "PITIFUL mercenaries, Zim is here for his well-deserved _vengeance_."

"I'm here too!" Skoodge's voice added enthusiastically.

"PIE-TATOES!" Gir suggested happily. Minimoose squeaked happily.

"Ugh, maybe we should've _killed _him after all," Domm muttered. "Hunter THREE!" Lio looked up, and started phasing back up the side of the cliff. "You can deal with these _rejects_ alone." He pulled a long, thin weapon from his Pak. The weapon had a handle with a spiked guard, and a long, thin blade covered in teeth. He gripped it, and the teeth began to spin violently, emitting a glow and a hum that were equally eerie. "I'll take the TARGET," he laughed, holding his chainsaw high.

"Sir yes SIR!" Lio said as he turned toward the fast-approaching Voot Cruiser. _Domm is serious about this one_, he thought as he walked toward his new opponents. _He hasn't used that since… _Lio began reminiscing about the fight he'd seen that inspired him to join Dommination Industries, which involved Domm's chainsaw. Its kill count that mission had been seven Vortians, one Tamaranian, and half of one of Domm's own antennae.

**End of Chapter**

**I just realized the whole chapter is one long scene. Ah well.**

**Next chapter: even more beating each other up! Plus, find out the downside of Domm's defect! All in Chapter 10: The Price Of Victory!**


	10. Chapter 10

**avatar: YES! and again, YES! Chapter 10: The Price of Victory is finally finished and ready for submission! I've had a horrible day (I won't bother you with the unpleasant details of my UT infection), and it is picking up so nicely! I'll even do my own disclaimer! That's just how good I feel! Here goes: avatarjk137 does not own Invader Zim, that belongs to the visionary Jhonen Vasquez. However, I do own Domm, Lio, Erris, Edh, Kloof, Reapir, and the contents of this story! YAY! NOW GO READ!**

**Chapter 10**

**The Price of Victory**

Lio took a battle ready stance, and stood facing the incoming Voot Cruiser. As it approached, the Voot fired a pair of energy spheres. Lio didn't move an inch, and the spheres crashed harmlessly to either side of him. "Fools," he sneered.

"It's that _mercenary,_" Zim sneered. "He's pretty thick. RAM HIM!"

"Waiiiittt…" Skoodge objected. "Isn't he the guy who can-"

Too late. Lio jumped forward, and phased cleanly into the Voot Cruiser's opaque cockpit. An outside observer would've seen the Cruiser wobble a bit before plowing into the dirt. Seconds later, Lio exploded backwards through the windshield, Skoodge's torso clutched in his massive hand. Minimoose followed, his antlers smoking. Zim and Gir then hopped out themselves (or in Gir's case, tumbled out). "You shouldn't have come. You could _die_ out here," Lio said with a grin as he squeezed Skoodge. "And the Tallest don't care about you two!"

"How do _you _know what the Tallest do and don't care about?" Skoodge yelled. This stung. He didn't need to be insulted on his usefulness to his Empire by some random bounty hunter. He bit down on Lio's wrist. As hard as he could.

"AHH!" Lio shook Skoodge off, and got blasted by a beam from Minimoose.

"GOOD!" Zim yelled. "Now Gir, use your new _ultimate transformation!_"

"YES MASTER!" Gir replied in Duty Mode. First his head, then his body split open down the middle, and he unfolded into something resembling a Howitzer. He began glowing, and counting down in Duty Mode, "3…2…1…" Suddenly, his voice changed back to 'normal'. "FRIED DOUGH!" Gir simply fell apart. Unfortunately for Lio, he stood looking at Gir long enough for Zim to tackle him. Lio grabbed Zim, bashed him against the ground, and threw him away.

"I've had enough of you fools," Lio said, his expression dead-set. He dodged a wave of missiles from Minimoose by diving underground, and popped up behind Minimoose. He grabbed the squeaking cute doomsday device by the antlers and slammed the little robot moose into his knee. Then he threw him to the ground and elbow dropped him.

"Squeeee…" Minimoose moaned. Lio stood, Minimoose clutched in his fist by the antler.

"Want some more, or have I pounded some sense into you?" Lio asked angrily. He was rewarded by a large blast of energy slamming into his chest. Minimoose was hurled free, and Lio was sent rolling, a large hole in his chestplate revealing slightly burnt green skin underneath. He coughed and rolled to his feet. Skoodge had produced a large plasma rifle and set it to maximum charge. Lio rushed forward, laughing despite the hole in his armor, and dodged a shot from Skoodge. He then leapt at Skoodge, but the fat little Irken's spider legs deployed. An energy shield formed around them, and Lio bounced off.

"I've had _enough_ of you beating us up!" Skoodge yelled. He fired off another blast, and Lio simply slid underground, causing the blast to hit nothing. Skoodge gulped and began charging his weapon again.

* * *

Kloof rolled to his feet, blocking more gunfire from his face. He then jumped back and away from Edh's attacks, but Edh began producing force waves and smacked Kloof back. Kloof managed to regain his footing, but he knew what was happening. Ever since he landed, Edh and Erris had been pushing him back towards a seemingly endless ravine. A narrow natural land bridge stretched across the ravine, and the other side was a rough area of land covered with what appeared to be stalagmites. Edh swept his swords low, and Kloof jumped them. Kloof thought he had an opening, but Edh then slashed downward with his other two blades, and Kloof had to parry hurriedly. Kloof was sent rolling back again, near the ravine. Kloof kicked Edh away as he got up. _I NEED help,_ he thought. "Reapir," he said quietly into a hidden microphone built into the side of his face, "I need you to _see_ if any of the Mania's weapons are still functioning." 

Kloof shielded his face as a rain of bullets bounced against his now heavily-dented body, and slashed a force wave at Erris. She dodged with a mocking ease. "Why do I even bother?" He ducked as a grenade from Edh flew between his short antennae, the explosive detonated right behind Kloof and knocked him forward, and Kloof had to quickly parry and regain his footing to avoid being impaled on Edh's outstretched blades. Edh slashed with his dagger, and Kloof jumped back again, slashing at Erris to keep her occupied as he did so.

Edh began creating more force waves, and Kloof rolled away and replied with one of his own. Erris began shooting at him again, and he slashed a wave at her, too. Both easily dodged. "What's wrong, cake-face? Are you getting tired? Poor widgey-woo!" He laughed and threw a grenade, which Kloof ducked. It exploded in the distance behind him. Kloof rushed toward Edh angrily… but suddenly Edh ducked down and Domm leapt over him, his chainsaw humming as it swung downward. Kloof blocked the chainsaw with one of his blades, causing a shower of sparks as the teeth of the saw ground into his sword. Domm's hand began to glow, and he brought it down on Kloof, but Kloof blocked with his other sword, and pushed Domm off of his blades.

"CRAP!" Kloof realized that he had just let Domm short-circuit his other blade, and his distraction caused one of Edh's force waves to hit him and knock him backwards. Domm slashed forward with his chainsaw again, and Edh followed Domm like a shadow, attacking Kloof's other side; Kloof opted to evade Domm's saw and block Edh's swords with his own. He then swung his back into Domm, knocking him off-balance, and continued to lean back, sweeping Edh's feet. Before he could properly counter with an attack of his own, more of Erris's bullets struck Kloof back. He rolled away and kicked a stone on the ground at her, which she dodged with a laugh before continuing to shoot.

"Ready to give up and DIE, Kloof?" Domm asked as he darted forward again. Kloof jumped his low chainsaw sweep, and kicked him back.

"Not a chance, IDIOT!" Kloof landed and was immediately besieged by more rapid blows from Edh, which he was careful to dodge and parry. Suddenly, Edh jumped backwards, and Domm rolled forward under his feet. Domm thrusted his chainsaw forward, forcing Kloof back onto the land bridge. _No! What if they DESTROY the bridge?_ Kloof took a defensive stance, preparing for the worst.

"It's fun time!" Edh extended his dagger, and the grappling hook fired. Kloof, taken aback a bit, ducked under the claw, and it kept going and pierced a stalagmite on the other side of the gorge. Edh pulled, and was yanked forward, zipping directly over Kloof's head. He landed on the other side of the bridge, and brandished his swords.

"Crap," Kloof sighed. He jumped back from Domm's chainsaw, landing in the center of the bridge. Domm stepped onto the bridge, entirely surrounding Kloof. "Double crap!"

* * *

"Where _is_ he?" Skoodge said aloud. Gir and Minimoose were malfunctioning, Zim was getting his head to stop spinning, and Lio was underground somewhere. 

"I'm right HERE!" Lio popped halfway up from the ground behind Skoodge. Skoodge screamed, turned around, and fired his rifle. Lio disappeared underground again, and the bolt only scorched the ground and melted some ice. Lio appeared again some distance from his last location, and Skoodge fired again, with similar results.

"What is this?!" Skoodge shouted. "A game of Shoot-A-Slig?!"

"I'm just having fun with my prey," Lio chuckled from underground. This time, he surfaced halfway and immediately began to skate sideways along the ground. Skoodge set the rifle to 'Rock-And-Roll' and began to rapid-fire at Lio. Lio circled Skoodge twice, and Skoodge's rifle began to smoke.

"Oh IRK! Overcharge!" He threw the rifle into the air, and it exploded.

Lio grinned cruelly. "When yo' shield runs out, yo' time is up!" Suddenly, Zim grabbed Lio's head. Lio screamed and began to pull at the small, clawing green Irken slashing at his now-bare chest. "GET OFF!" As Lio pulled at Zim, they were both blasted by Minimoose, who was still sparking. Lio was knocked free of the ground, and Zim was knocked clear of Lio. They rolled to a stop side-by-side, still smoldering. "I hate short people," Lio said through gritted teeth. He phased in the ground, than resurfaced in a standing position. "Here's to yo' shield collapsing." He opened a panel on the arm of his gauntlet. "I was layin' remote mines underground as I circled you."

Skoodge frowned. "How many mines?"

"A LOT of mines." Lio pressed a button, and Skoodge was blasted several hundred feet into the air, leaving a rocket-like trail. His spider-legs rained down in shards around Lio, who looked at his chest, which was dripping milky whitish blood. "I need to bandage this." He began to walk away, but Zim tackled him again. "WHAT THE-"

"You _will_ be brought down," Zim hissed, "By the _magnificent _ZIM!"

* * *

Slowly, painfully, Kloof's commands found their way through Reapir's damaged CPU core. Slowly, painfully, servos whirred to life as Reapir's one functioning eye lit up and he began to scan the control panel for a weapon that would still function. Primary laser? Damaged. Missile launchers? All missiles exploded in the bay. Secondary lasers? Functioning, but buried under the crash's debris. Explosive homing discs? Those would work! Slowly, painfully, Reapir began typing in, one-handed, the command to initiate target search.

* * *

Kloof swerved his body forward, avoiding two of Edh's blades, and parried another with his sword. He turned to his other side, and used his other blade to parry Domm's chainsaw. This was bad. He was surrounded at close-quarters; soon he'd either get torn to shreds or fall into the gorge, and he didn't enjoy either prospect. He blocked another of Edh's rapid onslaught of attacks. He already had lost pretty much any chance of mounting a counter-offensive. "C'mon, do you guys really want to do jobs for the Irken Empire?" Kloof swerved away from Domm's saw again, and almost was impaled on Edh's katana. 

"It puts your head on a table!" Domm lashed forward with a low chainsaw swing; Edh simultaneously lunged forward low with his broadsword and high with his short sword. Kloof took what he guessed may be his last chance and jumped straight up, parrying the short sword and jumping over both low slashes. He attempted to kick out at both of them, but Edh blocked the blow with his dagger, and Domm parried with his free hand. Kloof pulled his legs back down before Domm could short-circuit him, and slashed downward with both blades as he fell. Domm sidestepped the sword, and Edh blocked with his katana, which began to wrap the sword.

"OH NO!" Kloof drove his shoulder into Edh's chest, knocking loose his sword. Domm took his chance and sliced at Kloof with the saw; Kloof attempted a late, clumsy dodge, but still received a shallow cut on his chest.

"You tackle _niiiiice_," Edh said as he regained his composure and began to attack again. Kloof again found himself trapped between the two bounty hunters, and nearly fell off the bridge as a bullet bounced off his head.

"If one of you needs a break," Erris said sarcastically, "I'll be happy to shoot at our soon-to-be-DEPARTED friend for a while." Suddenly, she heard a curious whistling noise and turned. "OH BADNESS!" She threw her flight-Pak into high gear and rushed away from a volley of metal discs flying toward her; however, they were gaining. "MORE BADNESS!" She flew straight up, and the discs continued to home in on her. "TRIPLE FREAKING BADNESS!" The discs collided with her and exploded, and Erris fell to the hard ground, stunned.

"Erris!" Both Domm and Edh looked up, and Kloof saw his last window of opportunity. Quickly calculating Edh to be slightly less likely to kill him in one strike if his back was turned, Kloof dove under Domm's legs, intending to escape back to some ship, any ship. Edh took the opportunity and planted his short sword in the fleeing Kloof's back, and as Kloof rolled under the taller, skinnier Irken, the dagger was driven deeper, causing Kloof to cough up some liquid he'd rather keep inside of himself. Kloof decided he had to take the chance to kill one of the bounty hunters now that she was weakened, and dashed toward Erris, who was struggling to get up. "DON'T YOU DARE!" Domm took off after Kloof as fast as he could run, and Edh blinked and followed.

"Whuh-?" Erris shook the spinning out of her head to notice Kloof running at her with swords out stretched. "CRAP! Where are my pistols?" She began searching around for her pistols, and Kloof closed in on her. "DIE!" She straightened up with one pistol, firing wildly at Kloof. The shots bounced off his armor, and he was now too close to run.

"Sorry it had to be _you_! HAAA!" Kloof sliced his sword backhand, delivering a long, deep gash sideways through Erris' gut. Erris coughed, took a step backward, shuddered, and crumpled, her black Irken blood spilling out along the light green ice.

Domm saw red. He had never had one of his teammates die on a mission before. Thanks to Erris's planning, his leadership, and their collective skill at fighting, nobody in Dommination Industries had even been wounded except by their own stupidity and battle frenzy, as Domm's antennae could attest. To think that some stupid little Irken traitor ONE TARGET mission could hurt Erris, one of the closest people to him, drove him mad. Erris's immune system was never fully functional: that wound could be treated in any hospital, even in the group's own small medical bay on the ship, but Erris's wound would surely become badly infected. Her chances of survival were slim.

Domm let out an animalistic roar, brought his chainsaw over his head, and began to charge Kloof. He would kill that dirty metal Irken! The fact that he was a traitor didn't matter. The fact that the Tallest were paying him an obscene amount of monies for the job didn't matter. All that mattered was that Kloof had harmed one of Domm's own. All that mattered was that Domm had failed to protect his team. All that mattered was that Kloof pay in kind. "YOU DIE!!" Domm was nearly at Kloof now, who had turned. Kloof had never seen an Irken go into such severe blood frenzy. Kloof did the only thing that he could think to do; he reached quickly up and snapped off Domm's goggles just as he was about to bisect Kloof.

As far as anybody could tell, time stopped. Kloof stopped moving. Edh stopped moving. Domm stopped moving, and his chainsaw stopped abruptly, as if caught on something. The frigid breeze blowing across the planet seemed to quickly die down. Even Erris's blood flow seemed to stop as she lay on the ground, vaguely aware of what was happening.

Domm's eyes were as white as falling snow. His goggles clattered to the ground, forgotten. His mouth dropped open. After what seemed an eternity, he whispered, "I hate you." Before he could get any farther, he screamed and jerked his head up, and time seemed to continue.

Domm's eyes had always been what had caused him to be declared a Defect. If he had only had the static ability, it would've been lauded as a beneficial mutation. Domm would've become a successful Invader like any other, his height, battle frenzy, otherwise calm nature, and general competency guaranteeing him his share of respect across the Armada. However, whiteness wasn't the real problem with his eyes. Their actual color was red; however, their paleness was so severe nobody would be able to tell. And the paleness had another downside. Domm lowered his face, contorted in a pained grimace. His eyes were now boiled, bloodstained, horrible messes.

**End of Chapter**

**Wow! That was as dramatic and stylized as I've ever done! Wait until I finish Ch. 11! I'll go farther off the beaten path! MUCH FARTHER, as my storyline consultants and beta readers know. Chapter 11: Chemical Epiphany is on it's way!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Avatar: Hey there. I found out on Saturday that my dog has cancer, so my life continues to suck on Spring Break. Still, it allows me to write angstier stuff, like this chapter. So, cheers or whatever.**

**Kloof: I feel for you, man.**

**Avatar: Shut up and talk about the disclaimer! (chucks soda can, which bounces off Kloof's head).**

**Kloof: avatarjk137 does not own Invader Zim. He only owns me, Reapir, Domm, Edh, Lio, Erris... and the contents of this fic.**

**Chapter 11**

**Chemical Epiphany**

Domm screamed in blind rage, literally and figuratively. He slashed forward with his chainsaw, but Kloof easily dodged the blow and kicked him, knocking him over and knocking away the saw. "You're _no longer _a threat to me."

"GET AWAY FROM MY BOSSY-BOO, CAKEY-PIE!"

"Oh, snacks, I still have to deal with HIM!" Kloof backflipped away from another storm of sword waves. Edh leapt over Domm and Erris and followed.

Domm lay on the ground. _This CAN'T be the end,_ he thought. _I've never, EVER been defeated. I'm not going to start now. I MUST still achieve my goal! Kloof will FALL! Erris is immuno-compromised, so her wound is probably fatal. That's HER problem for not avoiding it._ As he thought that, a foreign pain crossed his mind. He disregarded it and continued his train of thought. _I have to continue fighting. I may be BLIND, but I can still wield a chainsaw. And I'm alive and conscious. My DEFECTIVE eyes take a whole week to heal, so I'll just have to have my PAK regulate more power to my senses of hearing and smell so I can detect his moveMENTS in other ways. _He began to consult his Pak for non-vital body functions he could temporarily deactivate. _Breathing? No, I can't FIGHT for 5 minutes without that. Hearing? That's what I NEED most! Motor Skills? In a fight? IRK NO!_ Finally, he came across one that he could seriously consider. _Emotional… SUPPRESSION?_

Emotional Suppression was the function in the Pak of all Irkens that kept Irkens, a vicious military race, from feeling emotions that would 'weigh a soldier down', such as guilt, mourning, and – Irk forbid – romance. Turning off the function – something only available to certain modified Paks like those of Domm and Erris – would cause the user to experience a mental overflow and possibly a breakdown as all those emotions hit the user for the first time. In addition, anyone discovered without Emotional Suppression would be declared a traitor to the Empire. However, Domm was desperate, and really didn't believe he owed the Empire anything. He decided he could hide any emotions, and could handle the initial overflow, and mentally willed the Emotional Suppresion off.

Domm slowly rose to his feet, and was instantly slammed back down as his mind very nearly shorted out with a blast of new emotions, most of which he didn't like to a large extent. Guilt washed over him, causing him to shake like a maraca. Next came sorrow, and he began to moan. Luckily, he was spared mourning – he had never lost somebody close to him. However, realization struck that he was well on the way to losing one of his teammates. As he got weakly to his feet again, he collapsed to his knees as one more new feeling rushed into him – love. He realized that he loved Erris… that he'd have loved her for decades if not for his Pak. "I must… save her… stop Kloof…"

Suddenly, the energy that had been diverted to Emotional Suppression surged into his antennae, ready to boost his senses. Domm was shocked; he had been expecting a boost to his hearing and maybe smell, to the point of echolocation; instead, his sight was restored. But something was wrong, the height was wrong, the hands he saw were wrong, the actions this body was doing was not what he was doing. He realized that he wasn't seeing through his eyes, he was seeing through Zim's. "What the-?" He then realized he could also sense Zim's emotions, and some of his surface thoughts. "How?" He felt his antennae. They were twitching like mad, and a weak electric current was crackling along them. In spite of everything, Domm laughed. The surge of energy into his antennae must've reawakened some other use for them lost to evolution. Considering one of his antennae was a stump half its original length, he never expected it to be him.

Domm thought back to the situation at hand. He couldn't let Erris die. After just realizing he loved her… it would shatter him. But he also had to make sure Kloof was brought down, or the Empire would be after him. Also, Edh was in danger, fighting Kloof one-on-one. He quickly formulated a plan, and slowly got to his feet, tuning his headset to Lio's frequency.

* * *

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Skoodge crashed to the ground, his smoking body landing right back in Zim's Voot Cruiser. "My squeedlyspooch!" He moaned. 

"You'll PAY for that!" Zim snapped.

"Fo' what? You don't even _care _about that guy," Lio said as he attempted to stomp Zim, who rolled away.

"Well… uh… YOU'LL PAY ANYWAY, DIRT-MUTANT!"

"DON'T CALL ME DIRT!" Lio kicked Zim successfully this time, but Zim caught himself with his spidery artificial legs, and used them to pull himself up to Lio's face. He growled and began lashing out with his spiderlegs, but Lio simply phased through them and punched Zim in the face. Zim rolled across the ground, groaned and popped his eye back into place, and got to his real feet, keeping his legs extended.

"THIS… should stop YOU!" Zim grinned, and the tips of the spider legs glowed blue. He lashed forward with one, and although Lio phased, it burned anyway as it passed through.

"UUGGHH! Pretty clever…" Lio began to parry with his armored forearms as Zim lashed forward with his legs repeatedly. "You actually have me on the defensive!" he laughed.

Suddenly, a voice in his ear spoke, _"Lio. Disengage the bait. The SITUATION has changed!"_

"Domm?" Domm rarely stopped using codenames. Something was very wrong. "What happened?"

"_I'm… temporarily incapacitated. Edh is fighting Kloof alone. ERRIS is down!"_

"Ohhh… you want me to retreat to help Edh out?" Lio parried again, keeping his eyes on Zim and his ears on the conversation.

"_NO!"_ Domm's violent disapproval caught Lio off-guard, and one of Zim's attacks nearly snuck through. _"Watch out for those. Anyway, I need you to EVAC Erris at top speed to the nearest hospital that'll help IRKENS."_

What was going on? Domm knew what was happening in Lio's fight, and normally he would've still considered Kloof top priority. Well, Lio supposed he would consider it top priority, he had never been in a situation with a downed teammate before. But Domm knew it was unlikely that Erris would survive, why would he order this? "I can't disengage, boss. I'm on the defensive at the moment, as you _apparently_ can see."

"_ENOUGH ATTITUDE!"_ Domm growled. _"I'LL help Edh. But first, retreating. He's about to attack your upper-right."_ Lio dodged accordingly, and Zim's attack missed entirely, causing him to growl. _"Now he'll GO for your left leg."_ Lio lifted his leg, and Zim whiffed again. Zim screamed in frustration_. "Now he's throwing EVERYTHING into a headshot. Duck, STUN him, and get to ERRIS!"_ Lio obeyingly crouched, Zim missed with all four spider-legs extended, and Lio uppercut Zim's tiny frame at least 30 feet away.

"I'm going!" Lio dove underground. _What's wrong with Domm?_ he wondered.

* * *

Domm closed his eyes. _Concentrate,_ he thought to himself. _Focus. Now I need to see through the eyes of somebody else. _He pulled himself away from Zim's stunned, blurred gaze, and found himself looking out from the skull of a different Irken. He gulped as he stared at the black blood still leaking from the gut of the person he was seeing thru. Erris's head was swimming, and her vision was blurring a bit at the edges, but she was still conscious, ordering her Pak to cut off all power to her limbs and put it all in healing. _"Erris, it's Domm,"_ he spoke on the comlink. 

"Domm? Are you okay? You're blind, I saw that, but… you're _acting _strangely. I can't see you anymore, and I am _not _moving my head. I want to save the energy."

"_I'm FINE. What I'm worried about is… you. Lio's coming to evac you. You'll get out of this alive, I promise_." Ugh, he sounded like an idiot. No wonder Irkens used Emotional Suppression by law now.

"Get that KLOOF guy. Kill him dead. I won't _make_ it anyway. I knew the risks, insisting on _fighting_ with my defects. Just… _kill him_!"

"I will, Erris, I will." Domm attempted to change viewpoints again, and Erris faded into the dark grip of unconsciousness.

**End of Chapter**

**Avatarjk137 doing ROMANCE? And his first written couple being Irkens? Blows your mind, don't it? Actually, I've had the idea circulating for a while. I realized that Domm loves Erris, and she might like him back, but because of whatever Irkens have, they didn't realize it. They're my OCs, and I promise I won't get any canon characters wrapped up in romance. This is just the way it turned out. I needed Domm to realize a lot this chapter, hence the title.**


	12. Chapter 12

**avatar: Hey, there. Starting to near the story conclusion, but there's still a bit left. And I'll continue writing Invader Zim fanfics, no worries. Speaking of, here's Agent Dark Booty with the disclaimer.**

**Agent Dark Booty: avatarjk137 _does not _own Invader Zim, the property of the wondrous brilliant Jhonen Vasquez. He does own Kloof, Reapir, Domm, Erris, Lio, Edh, and the contents of this story. Now if you look under your seats, you'll find... the truth.**

**avatar: What? You think Agent Dark Booty has the budget to give you all brand new cars? Oprah's probably not in the Swollen Eyeball, you know.**

**Chapter 12**

**Getting Right Back Up Again**

Zim got up, his head clear. He turned to see Skoodge picking himself up off the ground, his movements showing obvious pain. "You'll be _fine_. Now help me pick up Gir's bits and pieces. Skoodge nodded, popped his shoulder back into place, and began to pick up parts of the small blue robot. "MINIMOOSE!" Zim yelled as he found Gir's smiling head.

"Sque3e?" Minimoose looked the worse for wear. One of his antlers was totally snapped off, and his eyes weren't focusing.

"Prep the VOOT! We're going back to the stinking EARTH mudball. I _tire_ of chasing these bounty hunting _filthies_ with eternal vengeance. Besides, I have a plan in store for the Dib-human that will be painful! SO PAINFUL! Oh, the _pain _he shall enduuuure…"

Skoodge smiled as he finished piecing together Gir's right arm. Zim was back to his usual self, and they wouldn't have to get beaten up by big tough bounty hunters anymore. At least not for a while. Zim had admitted defeat, in a way only Zim could.

* * *

"C'mon," Domm muttered, concentrating. He was attempting to contact Edh, to see what was going on and help him fight Kloof until he arrived. It wasn't working, though. "Did I lose the _ability?_" A thought occurred to him. The link came from his antennae. Perhaps it only worked with other Irkens… would it work on Kloof? He didn't have real antennae anymore, just the thick hornlike ones on his helmet. Still, it was worth a shot. He concentrated, and suddenly saw Edh. It was like seeing him through a high-quality video feed: If he looked closely, he could see the pixels, and there was a display in the corner including Vortian/Irken Universal time and complex holographic 3D chart showing Kloof various statistics about the physical condition of his body, among other things. "That was lucky," Domm laughed. He turned his radio feed to Edh. "EDH! It's Domm, I'm on my way to _help._" 

"Big Boy?" Edh replied, his voice showing disbelief. "But I saw what this guy did to you… you're alright?"

"I'll be FINE. Erris probably WON'T, so let's get him for that. Lio is going to evac Erris to the nearest MED bay."

The significance of this wasn't lost on Edh. "…Understood, Big Boy."

Domm cut the feed. Even short a blade, Edh had Kloof on the defensive and didn't need his help.

* * *

"So I bet you're wondering about my SWORD in your back, vanilla face," Edh said angrily as he struck forward with his broadsword. Kloof parried the blow and countered, but was met with Edh's dagger. 

"Yeah, I am. What's with the short sword in my _back_, and why is it BEEPING?!" He yelled, kicking at Edh. Edh caught Kloof's foot with his free hand and flipped Kloof up and back. Kloof landed on his feet, but was blasted by Edh's force waves on landing.

"Well, once planted, the sword spends five minutes synchronizing with your biorhythm. After that five-minute period, it uses your life force as a power source to make a VERY BIG BOOM!" Edh stopped attacking Kloof for a second to laugh maniacally. "I'll get to see what your life looks like in firework form!"

"WHAT?!" Kloof yelped. "Can't I just pull it out?"

Edh jumped forward, swinging his swords in what looked to be a wild berserker rush but was actually a strategically aimed combo that kept Kloof on the defensive. "Yeah, you're a STRONG, SEXY MAN, so I suppose you could. If I gave you a few seconds of time to do so with both hands in the next three minutes…"

"Which you won't," Kloof finished, nodding in understanding as he ducked under Edh's katana. "By the way, look over there."

"That's the oldest trick in the book, bishie!" Edh laughed. "No way I'm going to look…" he glanced. "Not sexy." More exploding discs had been launched, and they were headed this way. Edh launched a plasma grenade, and it hit the discs, causing a chain reaction of explosions. Smoke from the detonation blanketed the section of barren ice they were standing on.

"You're out of luck," Kloof said. "I can see in infrared through this smoke. You can't." Kloof swung his sword, and then charged at Edh, who was looking around nervously. "Die NOW!"

"You didn't think it was a one-on-one fight, _did_ you, KLOOF?!" Domm jumped in front of Edh, blocked Kloof's swords with his chainsaw, and kicked Kloof away.

"Domm!" Edh yelled happily. "How are your eyes?"

"The same as five minutes ago: GONE! I'm fine, though."

"So how did you see me?" Kloof asked, holding his swords at the ready. The blade in his back beeped. _Not good,_ he thought, gritting his teeth. _I'm running out of TIME!_

"That's my secret," Domm replied. He brought his humming saw up and pointed it at Kloof. "Erris will likely die because of you…" Kloof and Edh were astonished as Domm's voice cracked. "I'LL WIPE YOU FROM MEMORY!" The smoke cleared, and Edh, Kloof, and Domm readied their weapons and began to fight again.

* * *

"Are we almost there, Shloonktapooxis?" Lard Nar asked. 

"That's a big AFFIRMATIVE, sir!" Shloonktapooxis responded, his conic body swinging dangerously in his navigator's chair. The ship they had brought was Lard Nar's favorite since they had lost all their actual Vortian ships, a customized Irken Viral Tank. It was capable of carrying all kinds of things, and being a science vessel, it carried unusual weapons such as EMP generators. This one had been used to study genetic engineering by the Irken scientists before it was captured by the Resisty; unfortunately, the genesis chamber was damaged in the capture, so they couldn't use it against the Empire. It seated up to twenty with a crew of three, in this case Lard Nar, Spleenk, Shloonktapooxis, and Naganx, a three-headed alien who had been on the massive design team (along with Lard Nar and – oddly enough – Zim, and headed by a Vortian now known as Prisoner 777). A few more Resisty members were in smaller Phobos fighters following behind: Kloof's message had sounded urgent, and they were pretty worried about anything that would give Kloof trouble. Besides, there was an Irken prison tanker they could attack on the way back.

"Alright, men," Lard continued, "we are here to pickup Kloof, presumably in _heavy combat conditions_. I don't want any heroes out there, so everybody has to act as a team. GOT IT?!"

"Yessir," Spleenk replied. "Can I bring these pork rinds?"

Lard's eye twitched. "_You're staying on the ship._"

* * *

"Eat DEATH!" Domm swung forward with his chainsaw. Kloof ducked, but the blade sliced off the very tip of his left antenna. Domm's vision through Kloof's eyes went static for a moment, then cleared again. _I have to be careful to KILL him without damaging his ANTENNAE, _he reminded himself. Kloof began to slash at Domm rapidly, but because Domm saw through Kloof's eyes, and saw some of Kloof's thoughts, he could easily dodge. 

"How are you doing that without EYES?!" Kloof groaned. "You're more slippery than a _raw_ Moosh-minkey!"

Domm laughed and swung his saw, grazing Kloof's shoulder, then swung with his other hand, which he had engaged his static ability with. "We all keep secrets!"

Kloof dodged and swung forward with his swords again, and yelled in shock as Edh's katana sliced a deep gouge into his forearm. "Don't tell me you forgot about little old me…" Edh said with an innocent smile. Kloof jumped back. "Can you spare 70 monies?" Edh asked Kloof as he launched a grenade, which Kloof jumped away from.

"Not right now…" Kloof muttered as he dodged Domm's saw again. _One minute left…_

"How about 69, then?" Edh asked, stabbing forward. "I'm sure you can spare _69_."

"You're SICK!" Kloof jumped away, tripped and fell. _Ugh, I'm just about spent._

"Ready for some ATONEMENT?!" Domm yelled, his saw at the ready. Suddenly, the ground around them began to shake. "What's going on?"

Kloof got up, blocked a series of sword attacks from Edh, and tackled Domm, knocking him back and snapping him back to the fight at hand. "My ride's here," Kloof said simply.

**End of Chapter**

**Yes, I elected to name the three-headed alien Naganx. Becuase I can and I want to mention some of the other notable Resisty members. And I'm sorry about Edh's comment, that may have been a bit out of line.**

**Next chapter: Will Kloof get away?**


	13. Chapter 13

**avatar: I'm back, and ready to spoil your dinner! Speaking of spoilers, this fic is drawing to a close. In fact, there are only two chapters left and I thought I'd-**

**Kloof: (comes and whispers in avatar's ear)**

**avatar: Well how about that? I completely forgot. I have THREE chapters left! I promised you guys an alternate ending scene, and by Jove, I'll GIVE you an alternate ending scene! I'll get to the other thing next chapter!**

**Kloof: avatarjk137 does not own Invader Zim. He does own myself, Reapir, Domm, Edh, Erris, and Lio. He also owns the contents of this story, including said alternate ending.**

**Chapter 13**

**Eat and Run**

Sizzlorr sighed and served another customer their Boiling Scumbowl with extra Klap. He looked at the clock/calendar on the wall of his fast-food joint, Shloogorgh's Flavor Monster. The Foodening would end in: 19.2 years, Irken Universal calendar. He was raking in the cash like mad – Shloogorgh's was one of the biggest and most successful restaurant chains on Foodcourtia, a business befitting Sizzlorr, the sixth-tallest Irken alive. Only a rival frylord, the Tallest themselves, and their two rarely-used body doubles were taller than him. But his booming business didn't make him happy. He had to spend twenty years continuously serving customers with Gashloog (who, to be fair, was developing into the most talented assistant frylord Sizzlor knew), and Zim had escaped his clutches. Sizzlorr would like nothing more than to catch Zim, grate him up, and serve him deep-fried to his next 340 customers (as a veteran Frylord, he could easily calculate that 340 was the maximum number of servings that could be yielded from Zim's small body).

He sighed again, giving some random shouting customer their Spleedoodiedoo, and turned to Gashloog, who was wiping tables. "Gashloog! I'm going to make something for MYSELF to eat! Man the register!"

Gashloog snapped to position. "YeeeeeeSSIR!" He front-flipped onto the countertop as Sizzlorr walked his bulk into the kitchen, preparing to take it off of auto-cook. Sizzlorr growled subconsciously at the thought of Zim as he grabbed his gigantic master spatula, capable of either preparing the most delicious meals on this hemisphere of the planet or bisecting a Voot Cruiser in a single swing. He turned to the supply cabinet to open it, but stopped to look at the reflection.

The reflection was not of him, but of another Irken, a smaller female. She had purple eyes, a smug and sinister expression, an implant of no obvious function in the side of her head, and a few fresh cuts and burns on her face. "It doesn't have to _be_ this way, you know," she began.

Sizzlorr took a step back and brandished his spatula menacingly, causing it to crackle with plasma energy. "Who are you? What is your business in MY kitchen?!"

"I'm Tak, an Invader. I, like you, want some _delicious _REVENGE against the Irken menace to his race known as _Zim!_ I know your story, SIZZLORR, and I'm here to offer a deal. I get you out of the FOODENING, and you pledge your services to me so we can more easily _deal_ with him, and one certain other who I'm sure you'd have no _objections_ to helping me kill. WELL? This offer won't _last_…

Sizzlorr was desperate. This small Irken girl was offering him the chance at vengeance and escape he had been wishing for continuously all year. He didn't care about his business suffering, he had three-and-a-half other outposts planetwide and he had profited handsomely off the Foodening already. "How can you get me off-planet? The gravity is too strong and... FATTY for ships, and there are no teleportation pads on-planet…"

Tak laughed. "I recently stumbled across a… _better_ teleportation method. Be ready to leave in two minutes." Her reflection started to distort and fade to solid black.

Sizzlorr jumped and ran from the kitchen into the main room. "GASHLOOG! GET PACKED! NO QUESTIONS!" He was glad he had put 'live combat fire support' in Gashloog's job description on a whim.

"Um… yessir. What should I do about the _customers_?" Sizzlorr pressed a red button on the wall and a tractor beam sucked all the customers out the front door screaming, then locked the doors. Even Eric the Blob was left outside, beating on the doors hopefully. "Oh. Okay." Gashloog ran into a side room. Sizzlorr pressed an adjacent button, and a metal tower dropped from the ceiling, landing around Sizzlorr and equipping him in his battle armor (complete with his 'good' spatula). He strode back into the kitchen, followed by Gashloog, who had a small suitcase. "Sir? If I may ask…" the medium-sized young Irken began as they stood in front of the supply cabinet, which was no longer extraordinary in any way.

"You _may_," Sizzlorr replied.

"Where are we going and how are we leaving?"

"Anywhere but here, and I haven't a clue." Suddenly, the cabinet flung its doors open to reveal a black portal to… well, Sizzlorr supposed it was to anywhere but here. "Now you see how we're leaving. As FOR where, why don't _you_ find out first?" Sizzlorr used the flat end of his spatula to push Gashloog in, shrugged, and jumped in himself a few seconds later. A small child who had been in the bathroom and therefore not been beamed out of the restaurant, meanwhile, had wandered into the kitchen looking for everybody and pointed in mute horror as Sizzlorr jumped into the pantry portal.

* * *

"Hey you!" Edh cried out to the large Viral Tank floating in the air above them. "Go away, hunnies! We're in the middle of a job here!" 

Lard Nar's voice resounded through a speaker. "FIRE IN THE HOLE, KLOOF!"

"Right!" Kloof jumped away. Before Edh and Domm could give chase, the Tank's underside opened up, revealing an array of numerous small lasers, which began to blanket Edh and Domm. Edh immediately began deflecting any beams that came his way with the reflective surfaces of his sword, while Domm used all six of the retractable legs in his Pak.

"Kloof," the voice of Lard Nar continued. "Get back to your ship and we'll pull you all back on board together!"

"Good idea," Kloof said aloud. "But first…" He dropped his swords for a second and grabbed at the sword handle jutting from his back. Yelling, he pulled as hard as he could, and the blade came free with a gout of the machine oil circulating thru most of Kloof's body. _And with only about eight seconds to spare,_ he thought as he threw it away. He then placed his swords on his back over the dripping wound and began to sprint toward his wrecked ship.

"NO! He's escaping!" Domm cried out as a more powerful blast knocked the scythe off one of his front limbs.

"Then go after him, big boy!" Edh yelled. "I'll head toward the ship, it's my only chance of bringing these hunnies down!"

"Right!" Domm took off after Kloof, while Edh began to slowly move toward his ship. Most of the lasers followed Domm until Edh began to counterattack with force waves and destroyed a couple, which caused them all to focus on the four-armed alien. Domm swore inwardly. Using Kloof's eyes wasn't so helpful when he wasn't looking at Domm or anything. Domm had to trust the mechanical legs to not trip on the uneven terrain. Luckily, Kloof now smelled strongly of the oil and Irken blood he was dripping, and his antennae were working in overdrive enough to easily follow the scent.

As Kloof climbed up to the top of the ledge leading to his ship, he noticed Domm beginning to clamber up after him. "Persistent little _scumwad_!" He rolled onto the flat ground atop the ledge, and began to back away. Domm shot up and over the top of the ledge, his legs still extended. As he dropped to the ground, he slammed his remaining scythe down onto Kloof, who was prepared and blocked with his sword. He brought his chainsaw forward, but Kloof blocked it with his other blade, causing a new wave of sparks.

Domm grinned, which was an eerie, skeletal expression without his eyes. "FOOL!" He brought his other hand forward and clamped it around Kloof's wrist, then activated the multicolored glow of static.

"Uh-oh!" Kloof jumped away from Domm, but it was too late. The sword dropped from Kloof's hand as a feeling of numbness and deadness quickly spread up his right arm. _Only one solution,_ Kloof thought, gritting his teeth. He quickly sliced his right arm off at the shoulder, causing the infected arm to clatter to the ground and the static sound coming from it to fade.

"Now you'll _die_ from my static stopping your VITALS!" Domm was screaming "MWAAAAHAAAA… oh. Well, you're still CRIPPLED!"

"That makes TWO of us!" Kloof threw his sword at Domm, who lashed out with his scythe to block it. Kloof dashed forward behind his blade, grabbed the extended scythe leg, and pulled. He swung Domm around in a circle and tossed him off the ledge like a discus.

"How DARE YOU!" Domm yelled as he dropped away.

"Whatever. I'm so _tired…_" Kloof grabbed his swords and awkwardly put them on his back again, one at a time. Then he picked up his severed, short-circuited arm and ran back to his ship. After he climbed into the cockpit, thanked Reapir, and allowed him to finally shut down, he sat in the seat, dropped his severed arm, and clamped his hand to the stump of a shoulder, hoping to stop even more fluids from leaking out. Mere seconds later, the Viral Tank passed over the Mania and used a tractor beam to bring the ship into its hull, complete with Kloof and Reapir.

* * *

_Hate, hate, HATE! _Domm slammed his spider-legs into the cliffside, slowing his descent. _I hate that IRKEN FREAK! I could CARVE a BATTLECRUISER out of the hate I have for him!_ He heard the familiar jets of his ship pulling up behind him, and made a (literal) blind leap of faith backward, into the open cabin of the ship. Edh had the foresight to open Domm's cockpit windshield and position the ship so that Domm fell right in, retracting the legs as he did so. "Status report, Edh," he barked. 

"Kloof's escaping, but I can give chase if you desire."

"Of course. Kloof's going to DIE if we have to kill A THOUSAND Resisty agents to _get to him_!" Domm screamed as he shuffled blindly around in the cockpit. "Computer, bandages."

"Lio called."

"HE DID?!" Domm stopped wrapping something yellow and similar to gauze around his head. "WHAT DID HE SAY?!"

"CALM DOWN!" Edh shouted back. "He said he reached a good hospital, but it doesn't look too good for Erris. Now stop yelling at me, Big Boy, or I won't be able to line up a clear shot!" _Poor boss… he's lost his mind or something._

Meanwhile, Domm was thinking his own thoughts. _Erris, please pull through. I will STRIKE Kloof down for doing this to you. I will if it takes my life. Just PLEASE be okay._

**End of Chapter**

**I don't honestly think this was my strongest chapter, but I can't figure out what came out wrong. I did like the first scene, though. A nice break in the action furthering Tak's behind-the-scene spooky adventures. If you disliked something, feel free to review and point it out.**

**Next chapter: A thrilling chase brings this thrilling action sequence to its thrilling conclusion! I can't wait to write the next chapter: The Death of the Action Sequence That Would Not Die! (working title)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Avatar: Hey! The Mail is back online! w00t! That's fan-tastic! Anyway, another nice long chapter in store for you today, due to erratic switching between space chasing and random conversation. I'm also introducing three new OCs as an experiment for making minor characters. Don't get too close to them.**

**Bea: Hi there! I'm one of the three new OCs! I've been promised something _tasty_ in this chapter if I do the DISCLAIMER, so here goes: avatarjk137 does not own Invader Zim. He does own ALL of this... _stuff!_: Kloof, Reapir, Domm, Edh, Erris, Lio, Dai, Tarva, myself, AND the deliciously gooey contents of _this_ story!**

**Chapter 14**

**Shootout**

"So, you all know how MY day was," Kloof said, strolling into the bridge covered in duct tape, sealants, and bandages, "How did you guys do this _fine_ afternoon? Score any girls, Lard Nar?"

"No, no girls ever like me," Lard Nar replied absentmindedly as he steered the ship.

"Ya KNOW, Kloof, there's no need to be sarCASTIC!" Shloonktapooxis complained.

"Sorry. It's just, I haven't had much trouble beating people up in a MELEE until today. Even back when I was fully _Irken_, there weren't that many physical challenges. It was a real _wake-_UP call!" Suddenly, the ship shook. "No, anything but that…" Kloof moaned.

"Main screen turn on!" Spleenk yelled. A screen above the windshield flickered on to reveal Edh's scowling face and Domm's bandaged, eerie, grimacing one.

"Listen up _you hot bitches_," Edh began, "You have two minutes to fork over a hot plate of KLOOF before I go… do I know you?"

"HEY! Yeah! Edh!" Spleenk waved. "Remember me? High school?"

"Oh, yeah, Spleenk! That last party was a gas!"

"YOU were the gas, Edh! Flirting with the teachers, the students, the hot undergraduates, the cafeteria drones… and you would ALWAYS say you couldn't help it!"

"… I really can't, babe!"

"THERE YOU GO AGAIN!" Spleenk fell out of his chair laughing, and the rest of the Resisty turned to watch Spleenk twitch and giggle on the ground.

By this time, to say Domm was furious was an understatement. His antennae were twitching like mad. "EDH! NEED I REMIND YOU THAT WE ARE TRYING TO _KILL_ SOMEBODY!"

"Oh right. Sorry, big boy. Fork over some hot Kloof action or we'll open fire!"

"FEEL FREE!" Lard Nar shouted back. "We WON'T give up one of our own!" He shook his fist triumphantly in the air.

Domm grinned cruelly, his antennae calming down. "Open fire it is."

* * *

The Maverick Custom was perhaps one-third the length of an Irken Viral Tank, and one-fiftieth the mass. The slim Maverick Custom was designed more as an advanced fighter that Dommination Industries could live out of comfortably for a few days, while the Viral Tank was designed to provide fire support for the Armada while simultaneously housing a crew of scientists conducting cruel experiments. Still, the Maverick was designed for fighting in all sorts of conditions, and in the hands of a pilot like Edh, it was extremely tough to defeat. 

The Maverick immediately began to fire missiles from every available slot. The Viral Tank, in turn, extended its laser array and countered every single missile with a beam. In the ensuing explosion, the Maverick veered above the Viral Tank, which began to fire more lasers, and pointed its Gauss Rifle straight down. A slight hit from a laser tilted the ship at the last second, and the rifle ball only slammed into the side of the ship's living quarters, but it was a blow nonetheless.

"These two are WAY too fast for you, Captain!" Kloof yelled. "Let me take the _controls._"

"NO WAY, you FOOL!" Lard Nar replied. "You're barely better than bleeding out all over the place! Besides, you got your ARM chopped off!"

"Sir, YOU can't outfly these _hotshots_ in this bulky thing!" Kloof's statement was punctuated by the ship shaking.

"What makes you think YOU CAN?!" Lard Nar screamed. "You couldn't outfly these bounty hunters when you had TWO ARMS!"

"FINE! DIE THEN!" Kloof walked off. "Maybe I'll be able to save us by taking _control_ of the guns!"

"FINE!" The ship rocked as Lard Nar screamed.

"FINE!" Kloof jumped into the gunner's chair, turned off the auto, and plugged a cord into the back of his head. _Who needs hands when you have MIND-to-MACHINE interface? _The Maverick Custom, its lasers flaring, popped up in the upper center of the screen. Next, over a dozen crosshairs flared to life around it. Kloof began to converge all the crosshairs on the Maverick. Suddenly, a laser shot caused the Tank to shake, and one crosshair disappeared. _They're good at this, too_. Kloof began to spray laser fire both at and around the Maverick, trying to prevent it from dodging. However, the Maverick's Gauss Rifle shined for a moment before launching a shell, which was blue instead of steel grey as usual. Kloof watched in horror as the shell absorbed all the laser energy, glowing brightly as it narrowly missed the Viral Tank. It exploded on impact with an asteroid in front, shattering it into smaller rocks that flew in every direction.

"What in the GRAND TRIAL was that?!" Kloof yelped. Domm began to laugh maniacally as his only reply, before the two mercenaries' faces flickered and faded.

* * *

"Hey Dai," Bea laughed, "Where'd you get these DONUTS? They rock!" Bea leaned back in the comfy seat of her patrol cruiser. Bea, Dai, and Tarva were three Irken MPs, currently on-duty, but positioned in a backwater post of a backwater galaxy. Bea was the only female of the three, her purple eyes glimmering with the carefree grin she always wore. She hadn't bothered to remove the candy cane in her mouth before trying a donut; she ALWAYS had a candy cane between her lips and teeth. Everybody joked that she just had the one candy cane, and it never dissolved. This irrational conclusion was supported a bit by the fact that her candy cane always seemed to be the same length. 

"They're from our _usual_ place, Bea. I think they're tryin' a new RECIPE, and I for one am wicked glad." Dai was always cool, calm, and collected. He was also easy to pick out of a crowd due to one distinguishing feature: his tattoo. His entire head, save his heavy-lidded crimson eyes, was entirely covered with Irken letters forming a short speech by the oldest Tallest still remembered in Irken history. Dai claimed to have done it himself, but then again, Dai claimed a lot of things, including the first donut every time without fail.

"Hey, listen to _this_," Tarva interrupted. His remaining purple eye narrowed as he forwarded the transmission to them. Tarva was the most serious MP in their sector, which got him promoted to guard lieutenant, much to everyone else's resentment. It had also gotten him partially mauled by a vicious beast, which explained his left eye being replaced by a mechanical one with four lenses. It also explained the claw marks surrounding the implant. He was always serious, always intense, and never said anything unless he had a point. There was an office pool on how many more years his sanity could be maintained, and they had made sure to notify him of it.

"Whazzis?" Dai responded lazily. He listened to the short radio transmission. "So, The Resisty have been spotted 'round these BOONIES? If we catch them, we could be livin' the _easy _life for the foreseeable future!"

"Yeah," Bea chimed in. "And if not, easy come, EASY go, right?"

Tarva sighed deeply. No ambition, not in one of them. "Should we do a sweep, in _case_ they pass thru OUR sector?"

"Nahhhh," Bea laughed. "Too much _wooorrrk_. We have fresh donuts. FRESH… DONUTS."

"Besides," Dai chuckled, "THEY are coming to US." He pointed, and Tarva was shocked to see the Resisty's Viral Tank thunder right in front of them, followed by the Maverick Custom. "See? I'm right _again_. I can see the FUTURE, ya know."

Tarva ignored Dai's blatant lie. "AFTER THEM!" He lit up his sirens and gave chase, followed reluctantly by Dai and Bea.

"Sooo…" Bea began as they closed in, sirens blaring and cannons out. "Which one is the Resisty?"

"They fight IRKENS, right?" Dai replied logically. "They must be in the ship that's _not_ an Irken ship."

* * *

"HOT damn!" Edh pulled away. "That's a lot of lasers. Do we still have those EMP missiles, big boy?" 

"No…" Domm said dejectedly. "You _asked _me to remove those because you'd rather have spare Gauss ammunition.

"Oh yeah…" He pulled away from a new burst of laser fire and fired a Gauss shell, destroying another pulse laser. Suddenly, the Maverick Custom shook from a laser blast. "We're surrounded!"

"What?" Domm looked up. His antennae twitched, and he sensed the presence of three Irkens behind him. Great… he tapped into the eyes of one which was rapidly becoming as easy as twitching his finger, and saw that they were Military Police. He hailed them, and Edh saw three Irken faces pop onscreen for them. "Names and rank," Domm said absently. _I hope Erris survives_, he thought to himself.

"MP Lieutenant Tarva, SIR!"

"MP Patrol-Irken Bea!"

"MP Pat… wait," Dai muttered as he stopped. "We're the ones who should be asking _you _for name and rank, fellow Irken! And WHAT happened to you? Why're _you_ with the RESISTY?"

Domm sighed. A real bunch of geniuses… "Domm, rank N/A. I'm NOT with the Resisty; I'm captaining _this_ ship that is SHOOTING at the Resisty, who blinded me."

This sank into Tarva first. "You're… The Resisty is in the IRKEN ship?"

Domm's face betrayed surprise. "Didn't you _hear_ that?"

"No…" Bea said. "Sorry. Wait, what's with HIM?" She pointed at Edh.

"I sexy up this cruiser," Edh replied sarcastically.

"He's with me," Domm replied. "WE are bounty hunters."

Dai began to laugh. "Aww, are da widdle _mercs_ havin' twubble?" We'll make it _awwww _bedder!" They closed in on the Viral Tank and opened fire.

"Let the bimbos do it," Edh said, not angry at all as he switched off communication, "Three small craft would be BETTER for this situation anyhoo."

Meanwhile, Lard Nar had just remembered that he had kept three Phobos fighters with Resisty members inside following nearby just in case there was trouble. "Oh yeah… PILOTS! Close in on the Maverick Custom AND OPEN FIRE!" The three claw-shaped fighters, all piloted by bigheaded, gray aliens, closed in on the Maverick Custom and the three Irken police. "Kloof, will the new people be a problem?"

"Not at all." Kloof recalibrated the system, and several crosshairs migrated to each Irken target.

Domm noticed the laser cannons realigning, and swore inwardly. Each of those cannons would quickly dispose of their target if they hit properly. If memory served, those were Mons Cruisers being piloted by the MPs. Very fast to catch perps, couldn't really take a hit, moderate handling and weaponry, and pretty noisy, also for police purposes. And these guys didn't seem like ace pilots; in fact, they were more the type Kloof reportedly shot down on a daily basis. He reopened the commlink, but just with Tarva. "We'll_ remove_ those Phoboses," Domm assured the uptight captain.

"See that you do," Tarva replied stiffly. Edh began to snicker, causing Tarva's antennae to lie flat in annoyance. "_Aliens_…" he muttered.

"Whatever, cappytan!" Edh shifted the controls rapidly with his four arms, and a rain of missiles shot out of the Custom, targeting two of the Phobos Fighters. Although the pilots were able to dodge, they were unable to get close enough to accurately fire. Edh turned the ship on a dime and fired the Gauss, mutilating the third Phobos just as it got close and sending the pilot a quick death, barely leaving him time to scream.

"Uhh… wow… thanks," Bea's face said as it popped up, then disappeared again.

"That was _impressive_," Dai added.

"He shot Zaxafras down!" Kloof yelled. "BOSS! Do you have ANY bigger weapons on this _scrapheap_?!"

"I HAVE… no clue. Spleenk?"

"I dunno. Shloonktapooxis?"

"Uh-uh. Naganx? Any SUUUper-WEApons?

The three-headed alien nodded and pointed at a separate chair with no auto-function and some dust collected on it labeled 'Photon Torpedoes'.

"AAGHH!" Kloof yelled as he set the lasers back to auto and ran to the torpedoes. "It's_ like_ I'm taking CRAZY PILLS!" He grabbed the joystick and it instantly targeted a Mons Cruiser. He smiled. "Good… _this _is good…"

He smoothly took aim and fired, and a long, glowing torpedo shot from the top of the Viral Tank, U-Turned back down to the space chase below, and dropped like a stone in the gravity-free environment. "AH! They have torpedoes!" Edh yelled. "They didn't have torpedoes before!"

"Who cares?!" Bea responded, dodging a few lasers and destroying a turret. "We're _beatin'_ the Resisty! And us MPs will get ALL the credit!" Bea and Dai began to laugh at this fact, causing Domm to growl at them, and at his own helplessness in this fight.

Edh was right to worry. The torpedo dropped, and Tarva was barely able to dodge with a sharp air brake as he skimmed along the Tank and shot with the laser mounted on his éclair-shaped ship's underbelly. "Fire down below!" Tarva called automatically. The photon torpedo kept going, and slammed into a large asteroid, shattering it and sending pieces in every direction. One slammed into one of the two short, stubby wings on Dai's ship, and it snapped off, causing him to peel off and swerve wildly.

"Uh-oh…" Dai muttered. "I can't… control… the _ship._" He swung downward, cutting Bea off, and then up again behind her, spiraling off into the distance. "This sucks…" he said as he flew off into the distance.

"NO!" Tarva screamed as he destroyed another laser turret, leaving only four of thirteen remaining. "Dai! He's gone… probably _dead_… I will avenge you, Dai!" He destroyed another turret. "I WILL AVENGE YOOOUUU!" Suddenly, a torpedo struck his ship from above, obliterating him instantly.

"_Hey_…" Bea muttered. "Tarva's gone… Dai's gone… Woo! Boss Tarva is _gone_! I don't have to chase _these_ guys anymore!" _I'll just tell patrol HQ that they were killed and I was EMP'd, and my ship was offline for a while. Yeah, that'll be convincing enough_. She hailed Domm again, bringing up his face. "Bye, bounty hunters! You lame-o's are on your OWN!" She broke off from the chase and pulled away, but as she did, one of the Phobos Fighters being kept at a distance by Domm's missiles was able to reach her and grabbed onto her ship with its claw structure. "Hey! Get off!" But it didn't. It steered both ships toward a nearby meteor and began grinding Bea's Mons along the rocky surface, tearing the small ship apart in a few seconds. "Uh-oh uh-oh UH-OH!" Bea screamed. The last thing to go through her mind was the tip of her candy cane, sharpened to a point from her constant sucking.

"WOO YEAH!" Shloonktapooxis screamed back on board the Viral Tank. "Three BOgeys down!"

"DOUBLE HIGH FIVE!" Spleenk yelled, turning to Kloof. "Oh…" he said, staring at where Kloof's arm used to be.

Kloof glared up at him from his chair. "Because I'm SO nice, I won't _mash _your_ face_ for that."

**End of Chapter**

**Bea: Dead. Tarva: Dead. Dai? The main conclusion of this fic, as well as the conclusion of this space fight, await in the final chapter!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Avatar: So it ends. But it'll be ending again next chapter. I'm pretty happy with how the chapter came out, so I hope you are too. And I hope the alternate ending comes out as well.**

**Lard Nar: avatarjk137 does not own Invader Zim. He only owns Kloof, Reapir, Edh, Domm, Erris, Lio, Dai, and the contents of this story. DOWN WITH THE IRKEN EMPIRE!**

**Avatar: yes, yes, down, whatever. Good work.**

**Chapter 15**

**Convergence**

"STINKING…!" Edh slammed his four fists down on the control panel, causing the ship to wobble. "The MPs are down. I don't know how we're going to get past the torpedoes, Big Boy."

"You'll find a way," Domm said absently. "_You_… you're the BEST pilot I know!" It was true, for decades Edh had been integral to the success of Dommination Industries. Edh was possibly their best fighter, their best pilot by a long shot, and he always looked out for the interests of the others. And never once had Domm expressed gratitude. "Edh… thanks. For _everything _you've done for us."

"WHAT?!" Edh yelped. "DON'T KILL ME!" Irkens didn't give thanks for things, not from the bottom of their squeedlyspooch, and certainly not Domm. Whatever had happened to Domm after he went blind must've screwed him up pretty badly. He was acting like an entirely different person; no, he was acting like an entirely different SPECIES! "WHO ARE YOU?!"

"What?" Domm replied, genuinely hurt. Then it hit him how weird those words had sounded coming from his mouth. "It's still _Domm_, Edh. I've just… woken UP, that's all."

"Uh… if you say so…" Edh nervously destroyed the last laser turret with a blast from his twin beams. "There, that's the last one. But those torpedoes…Big Boy, they home in _like crazy_! I don't think we'll be able to dodge more than one or two."

Domm's anger flared up again. Anger at what Kloof had done, and at his own failure to destroy him. "TRY ANYWAY."

"There's my Dommy again!"

Suddenly, a damaged Mons Cruiser pulled up beside them. Its wing had snapped off. "_Where_ are my partners?" Dai asked.

"Dead," Domm said as if he was announcing the weather.

"Both?"

"Yeeesss…" Edh replied, watching closely as a torpedo shot upward. It would come back down toward them from above, and his timing had to be SPLIT SECOND PERFECT.

"Oh…" Dai muttered, a bit put out by the news. Then he brightened up. "Well, maybe _I_ could help YOU guys. I took down a Ravenous _Bugblatter_ Beast of _Traal_ once, you know."

"Really?" Edh asked.

"He's lying," Domm assured his teammate.

"Yeah, I am. Tarva took out a BABY one once, that's how he got his cool _scar_…" Dai looked around. "Well, then, I'll just GO. You stupid MERCS can get shot down by the _Resisty_ for all I care." He began to laugh.

Edh groaned, he'd had enough of these Irken MPs thinking themselves superior. At least Domm and Erris always treated him as an equal. "LISTEN YOU!" He began, so angry that he became distracted. Before he could continue, the torpedo came down on the Maverick's left wing, destroying what had been Lio's section of the ship. A huge chunk of shrapnel was hurled toward Dai's ship at a high speed.

Dai watched, eyes finally open wide, at the deadly fireball soaring toward his cockpit. "This WILL hurt," he said acceptingly, taking a last bite of donut. The flaming shrapnel smashed into his small Mons Cruiser and exploded on contact, annihilating him.

"CRAP!" Domm yelled. "After them!"

"We can't!" Edh yelled right back. "Our ship lost a wing, big boy! We won't be able fly fast enough to keep up with them anymore, and I don't think we can dodge anymore missiles!"

"… You're right…" Domm admitted. "We have to give up. Find out where Lio _took_ Erris. We'll go there."

As they flew off, Kloof turned to Lard Nar. "Alright, I think they're RETREATING. I hope they're retreating. How _long _will it take for me to get a new arm?"

"A few days, perhaps," Lard Nar replied, scratching his head thoughtfully. "But we should probably get you a _full armor upgrade_ at sometime in the near future."

Kloof nodded. "Yeah… that sounds _good_…"

* * *

"So that's what you've missed while in the _Foodening_," Tak explained to Sizzlorr. "I ASSUME you're still in?" 

"Of course," Sizzlorr nodded. He looked around. Tak's base was spacious, and its lower reaches featured a pump and drill for extracting the delicious beverage core from planet Frap. However, the walls and ceiling were decorated with various nasty-looking objects, eerie patterns, Tak's customized Irken sigil, and the hams from earlier, which were now fixed to the walls but still glowed red. _A bit odd for an Invader base_. "_When_ are we leaving?"

"As soon as my new ship is fueled," Tak responded calmly. She gestured to a long, relatively narrow ship. It was tubular in shape; the hollow center was part of the propulsion method, a new type of engine that was very fast. The ship was split into four segments so it could still turn easily. Various turbines and weapons were placed symmetrically down the tube, and the cockpit ran along the top of the first segment. "A Harbinger Worm. A NEW model that I special-ordered. This will be the model's first real _combat._"

"Nice. You just let ME deal with Zim. And if you need any other help in hand-to-hand, I'll be _glad_ to step in."

"What about me?" Gashloogh asked. Sizzlorr turned to him and tossed him a plasma carbine.

"You're our fire support. Turn off the _safety_, and then point and FIRE. Same as the portable fryer."

"Ohhhh… okay!"

"The ship's ready. We should get going," Tak said calmly.

They walked to the craft, but something occurred to Gashloogh. "Wait… if you're going with _us_… who's Invading this planet?"

Tak laughed maniacally for a bit, getting odd stares from Gashloogh and Sizzlorr. Finally she composed herself. "MIMI!" The robot appeared beside her with the swirl of leaves and wind, startling Gashloogh (Sizzlorr, however, didn't flinch). "Status report on Planet Frap's SURFACE." Mimi beeped, and a large hologram of what was happening just outside the base appeared above her. This time, Sizzlorr gasped too.

There was a large city around the base, but it was being literally torn apart. All the buildings were ablaze. A burning tornado ripped through the downtown area. Lightning crackled all over the screen, and the sky was a deep, swirling crimson. Tak laughed again at the sight of the mass destruction. "I've already let the TALLEST know that the planet's ready for organic sweeping at ANY time! _Mimi_, let's get going."

They all climbed into the cockpit. Tak took the pilot's seat, and Sizzlorr and Gashloogh took two of the three other seats in the cabin. Mimi stood next to Tak's chair. "To Earth, then?" Sizzlorr said.

Tak grinned eerily as she punched in the launch sequence on the shiny new control panel. "To Earth."

* * *

"This is pretty whacked out right here," Edh observed. Dommination Industries was in one of the two private rooms they had booked at a hospital, and Edh had yanked a machine that would let him personally scan Domm's brain, at his insistence that there was something wrong with Domm. Domm had finally admitted to shutting off his Pak's Emotional Suppression (and threatened Edh with death to keep it a secret). However, Edh had insisted on a brain scan anyway. 

"WHAT?! What's whacked out?" Domm pulled the diodes off his antennae and leapt to a standing position, running over to the monitor where Edh could see the monitors. It was only when he got there that he remembered he couldn't see what was on the monitors; he still had to wear the bandages for three more days while his eyes grew back. "CRAP!"

"Shh!" Edh admonished quietly. "I'm not supposed to be scanning your brain with their equipment, big boy! Anyway, start with the fact that your brain was screwed up from the beginning, because you're a Defective. Add the info that your Pak, which controls some of your brain functions, has been something you've been customizing and tweaking half your life. Then factor in you frying not just your eyes, but your entire visual center. Finally, finish up with a dollop of _removing a chemical from your brain that's been there your entire life_. Guess what that equals?"

"What?" Domm said, his teeth gritted. He didn't like the sound of things from this perspective.

"A heaping helping of 'You've rewired your whole freakin' brain'!" Edh turned off the scanner and got up. "My totally unprofessional opinion, big boy, is that you don't turn the ES back on. It might kill you at this point."

"Is that the only bad news?" Domm asked hopefully as they left the room and joined Lio, who was standing guard at the door and sipping a tub of soda large enough to crush a medium-sized child.

"Yep!" Edh said happily. "And your eyes and visual brain center seem to be healing fine!"

"He may not have more bad news, boss, but I do," Lio said calmly. "_Your Tallest_ want to talk to you."

Domm hung his head and sighed. "They aren't MY Tallest anymore. How about _Erris_?"

"Doctor said we'll know if she's gonna pull thru any minute now. I'm kinda glad you ordered me to evac her. We lost the target, but Erris got a chance to pull thru." Lio slurped his soda, but no sweet liquid came up the straw. "I need to go refill this." He walked away, making a beeline through walls and floors to the nearest soda fountain.

Domm looked toward a glass window. On the other side, Erris was undergoing surgery, not to deal with the wound, but with the inevitable infection it caused. He couldn't see through the window, but he could feel her thoughts on the edge of consciousness. They were wracked with pain. Suddenly, a doctor (a female of Edh's race) emerged from the door to the operating room, removing her microbe-repellant black medical coat. "Well?" Domm asked impatiently.

The doctor took a deep breath and smiled, although Domm became alarmed when he only noticed the deep breath. "She'll be at full strength again in a week."

"Really?" Edh asked.

"Absolutely!"

Domm grinned. He could contain it no longer. "SWEET SNACKS YES, SHE WILL LIVE!" He cried out at the top of his squeedlyspooch, startling the nurse. Edh's jaw dropped as the last piece of the puzzle fell into place, but soon lifted back up into a grin.

"I got it!" Edh said to Domm. "You lurrrrrve Errrrris!"

"What?!" Domm yelped, as the nurse walked away with a four-armed shrug. "How'd you figure it out?"

"I just know…" Edh said. "Ah… true love… wondrous love… you've probably loved her all along, and that dumb ES stuff kept you from noticing. Stupid Irkens, going without love…"

"Okay…" Domm admitted, his head bowed. "You're right… right on _all_ counts. But you _can't_ tell her!"

Edh laughed. "Fine, fine. I won't tell her! What about Lio?"

"DEFINITELY NOT LIO! If Lio heard, he'd lose all his _respect _for me as his leader!"

"If I heard what?" Lio asked, right behind Domm. Domm spun around reflexively and threw his fist, his static ability engaged. However, it plunged right thru Lio's ethereal soda and chest. "Don't do that again."

"Right… right…" Domm muttered, pulling back his fist. He needed to learn to hide his new emotions better if he wanted to keep them secret, especially in his line of work. Speaking of… "C'mon, let's go have a little TALK with the _Tallest_." He grabbed a spare pair of goggles from his Pak, and placed them on over the bandages already covering half his face. "To the Comm-station!" He promptly walked into a wall. "Grrr...Blindness SUCKS!"

* * *

"Hello, Tallest," Domm said, his back turned to their image. He was scanning their thoughts, and noticed they hadn't noticed anything strange about him yet aside from the bandages. _If I'm to HIDE my emotions, I'll have to start with the leaders of the ENTIRE Irken race. Purple's not the sharpest, but Red…_ "You wanted to _speak_ with me?" 

"Yeah," Red said, annoyance tinging his voice, "We did. We heard you didn't catch Kloof."

"_And _we heard you wound up in the hospital," Purple added.

"_And _that three Irken MPs got killed in the skirmish," Red continued. "NOT cool, Domm!"

"Hey," Edh protested, "Those MPs joined the fray of their own free will! They died because they were outclassed and outgunned, and got into our fight anyway!"

"Were we talking to you?" Red sneered. "No. We were talking… to _Domm_."

"Don't MOCK Edh," Domm said sharply. "He's more _worthy_ of your respect than all THREE of those MPs put together!" Red and Purple's jaws dropped in outrage. How _dare _he talk to them that way?! "Besides," Domm continued smoothly, "it's just… a minor setback. We can _still_ take down Kloof. Once a Dommination Industries target, ALWAYS a Dommination Industries target."

"You know he'll know your tricks this time…" Red criticized.

"And won't he be on his toes pretty much all the time?!" Purple contributed, grabbing a bag of popcorn.

"No problem," Domm said, his grin hiding the fact that his mind was calculating in overdrive about how they could deal with these good points. "We could bring out some _heavy equipment_. No extra charge."

"Well…" Red mulled it over, grabbing some popcorn from Purple's bag. "Alright. Meet us at these coordinates in ten days' time." He sent some coordinates. "We'll have a good opportunity for you to spring an ambush. Now, if you'll excuse us…" The screen went blank, and Edh grabbed the printout of the coordinates.

"'Excuse' them… FAH!" Domm turned and drove his fist into the wall, leaving a spiderweb of cracks. "NOTHING can excuse those _excuses_ for leaders of an Empire."

"C'mon, Domm," Lio said. "It's not so bad. It'll be a good chance for revenge for what Kloof did earlier to us."

"Revenge…" Domm muttered, "I don't believe in revenge. I've spent _forty_ years delivering revenge for others. Revenge is INFANTILE. Justice is just an _excuse_ for revenge. But I do believe in finishing what I started." He turned around. "And I _started _to kill Kloof." He rubbed his antennae. "Where do those COORDINATES point, Edh?"

Edh double checked, because he wasn't sure he had read it right the first time. "We're goin' to… Earth."

**End of Story**

**Yay! End of Story! Tune in next week for another end of story! But for now,**

**I'd like to start by thanking Jhonen Vasquez for creating such an awesome cartoon to base fanfiction on.**

**I'd really like to thank my beta reader and voice of reason, Yellowfur.**

**I'd like to thank The Illustrious Crackpot for his fine critique, Red Owshad Dark for her rave reviews (and good use of Kloof in her fic), SqueekyPhr33k for his/her many excellent reviews, and all the other great reviewers: mommaleasy, Child of the Wicked, Yellowfur again, HorseofDoom (where did you go?), Carrots and Curry, DeathbyChiasmus (thanks for the con-crit), and HeMeleNoLiloLover. Thank you all for your reviews.**

**Thanks goes to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Teen Titans, and any other sci-fi-verse I gave a homage to.**

**I also would like to thank Da Mongoose's Shadow Walker, which inspired this fic to an extent.**

**Finally, I'd like to thank all my readers, reviewing or not. You guys are great.**

**-_Avatarjk137_**


	16. Chapter 15 Alternate Ending

**avatar: Warning: Tragedy and angst lie ahead, weary traveler. Welcome to the alternate ending of DOOM. This ending won't be what sequels are based on, but it does contain a very important plot point. I think it'll be clear enough, so I won't just go out and say it.**

**Skoodge: So it turns out I might be the one character in the next fic who doesn't get much face time... anyway, avatarjk137 does not own Invader Zim. However, he owns... you know, I don't think this is even NECESSARY anymore. Ya know what? _Screw it_.**

**Chapter 15 X**

**Torn Apart**

The doctor looked away. Even if Domm had his eyes working properly, she wouldn't have been able to make eye contact. "She didn't make it…" the doctor said softly.

"No… NO…" Domm's head tilted down, and he began to shake. Thinking of how likely it was hadn't braced him for the shock of actually hearing it. He could feel Erris's consciousness fading away as his thoughts raced. _It was all for NOTHING…_ What would he do now? _All for NOTHING…_ What would Dommination Industries do now? _All for NOTHING… _surely they couldn't just keep going after Kloof, but what choice did they have? Would they be able to continue without Erris's strategic genius? _NOTHING!!_ Finally, Domm's two trains of thought merged, and he screamed. "NOTHING!" As the doctor backed away slowly, Domm brought his hands up. They crackled and glowed with static, brighter than ever before, and white sparks began to arc from one hand to another.

"Uh… Domm? Big boy?" Edh tapped Edh on the shoulder, but there was no response. Edh was really worried now. Domm knew he wasn't supposed to let his powers run at full intensity like this. He could short-circuit everything in a twenty-mile radius… but with that intensity, he had no control. He'd short-circuit all the life-support systems in this hospital. Worse, he'd short out his own Pak! "DOMM!" Still Domm ignored him, and the arcing electricity became more intense. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Edh slapped Domm, stopping the flow of electricity and knocking him down onto his hands and knees. "I know how you felt about Erris, Domm, but you can't go blowing places up just because you lose somebody you care about!"

Domm was shocked. "You… you _knew_ about how I felt?"

"Let's see, you turned off your Emotional Suppression for the first time in your life. At the same time, you start moping about something and have Erris evacuated knowing full well she probably wouldn't make it! I think I'd be surprised if I DIDN'T figure it out soon enough!"

"Oh… okay…" Domm hung his head. "What am I supposed to DO? Just keep going?!"

"One step at a time," Edh encouraged. "First step: we need to talk to the Tallest. See if we still want to chase down Kloof."

"The Tallest…" Domm got to his feet as Lio arrived.

"Erris didn't make it?" Lio asked bluntly. Domm shuddered and almost collapsed. Edh nodded and made a shushing motion. "Oh…. I'm sorry, Domm. Let's go talk to the Tallest!"

Edh stared agape as Lio walked off, whistling. _WHISTLING_. What was flipping WRONG with him?

* * *

"Soo… Domm. I hear you lost a teammate," Red said. "Sorry to _hear _that. I bet you want some nice REVENGE on Kloof, eh?"

"Eh? Eh?... EH?!" Purple added flatly.

"_Slurrrrp_," Lio slurped his soda. Domm twitched at the annoying noise, not having a sight to concentrate on.

"Actually, TALLEST, I don't believe in revenge."

"Wha-wha-WHAT?!" Purple yelped, spilling his soda all over his chest.

"How does that work?!" Red protested. "_You _are a bounty hunter and a MERCENARY. How can you not want revenge when you deal in the revenge of… _EVERYONE ELSE_ your whole life?!"

"_Slurrrrrpp_…"

Domm gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the sound. "Doing errands of revenge for _others_ all these years has made me realize JUST HOW DUMB revenge really is! I don't blame KLOOF at all! It was self-defense!"

"You really don't blame Kloof?" Purple asked, as an attendant wiped his chest with a napkin.

"_Sluuuppp_…"

"NO!"

"And you _aren't_ going to go after Kloof?" Red asked.

"_Sluuuurrrp_…"

"NO!"

"You _know_ what happens if you BREAK our contract, riiight?" Red said, a sinister grin on his face and an antenna raised.

"_SSSSSSLLLLLUUUUURRRRRRPPPPP_…." Lio slurped so loudly the communication screen cracked, causing Domm to wince and clutch his antennae.

"ARE YOU JUST ABOUT FINISHED WITH YOUR SODA?!" Domm screamed at Lio.

"About halfway, actually," Lio responded cheerfully. Domm yanked on his antennae with a muffled scream and turned back to the Tallest.

"I really stopped giving half a CRAP a little while ago!" Domm waved them off. "Go do whatever it is dictators do. I don't _care…_"

"Well," Red laughed, "Irken policy states we have to _have_ you killed!"

Domm snorted. "You don't have any _soldiers_ who can kill me!"

"OOOH! OOH!" Purple raised his hand. "I got one!"

"Oh yeah?" Edh sneered.

"Yyyeeeaaahhhhhhh," Purple replied. "LIO! Kill Domm and _stuff_."

"With pleasure." Lio tossed his soda high into the air, revealing the symbol of the Irken Armada on the palm of his gauntlet. He grabbed Domm's Pak and yanked off his back, dropping it. Domm turned around in shock, and Lio reared back and punched Domm in the chest, knocking him across the room and into a wall. Lio lifted his foot over the Pak, intending to stomp it into bits. "I work for the Almighty Tallest, and for the Almighty Tallest alone. This is goodnight, Domm."

"For somebody, yeah!" Edh suddenly appeared in front of Lio, sheathing his four swords. "I never liked you, Lio."

"What?" Lio asked in confusion, frozen in place. Suddenly, his massive tub of soda landed on his head, splitting him cleanly into slices where Edh had sliced through him. Lio fell to the ground in no less than ten pieces, soda spilling over all of them.

Edh grabbed Domm's Pak and threw it to Domm, who caught it and placed it back on his shoulders. "Thanks, Edh. You notice a LOT of stuff."

"That's one of the reasons you keep me around, right?"

"Uh-huh." Domm turned back to the Tallest. "Now what, bastards?"

"We'll send more people after you!" Purple said angrily. "And more! And more! And more…"

"That'll be a big _waste_ for you," Domm said with a smile. "_Plus_ it'll leave you with fewer soldiers to DEFEND yourself against Kloof and the _Resisty_ with! It sounds like a bad plan to me."

"We WILL make you regret this decision, Domm," Red said somberly. "Count on it."

Domm used his static ability to destroy the screen. "Whatever. C'mon, Edh. We're LEAVING."

"Where to?" Edh was cleaning Lio off of his boots.

"We'll figure it out on the way."

**End of Story**

**Don't see the twist? Keep in mind everything that would've happened before Erris's death is true in the main universe, and look again. Still don't see it? I'm not going to spell it out for you. I'm not Sesame Street... or Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas...**


End file.
